Soma Point
by MissNemisisFace
Summary: Alternate Universe. Pre-thneed and Pre-Once-ler leaving home. Inspired by the early Silent Hill games and Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. Rated for lots and lots of swears, violence, graphic character death. Slight romance and suggestive themes in in the Epilogue.
1. The Once-ler

Soma Point

For many years, Once-ler has observed his Uncle Ubb's daily ritual. Every evening, right after supper he would take his 20 gauge shotgun, a bottle of whiskey, and go out onto the back porch from sunset until dark. He had tried to ignore it for such a long time, but curiosity has its ways. He stands at the screen back door, looking out at his uncle; sitting on a worn wicker chair, gun in his lap and bottle of whiskey in his hand. Periodically, he takes a swig from it as he stares out into the field behind their house. Finally, curiosity gets the better of him, and Once-ler steps outside onto the back porch.

"Whatcha lookin' at, Uncle Ubb?" he asks, cheerful. Ubb says nothing, not even breaking his gaze to look at his youngest nephew. After a few moments of silence, Once-ler speaks up: "I'm gonna look, too, if that's okay." He crosses his arms and leans against the wall of their antebellum mansion. Just as he was beginning to get bored and contemplate going back inside, he sees something moving in the distance. Through the break in the weeds, he sees something: naked, milk-white skin. It is vaguely human, though its spindly limbs are twice as long as they should be. Its head is plain and egg-shaped.

"Go inside, Once-ler." Ubb says, raising his gun and leveling it in the direction of the creature.

"What the hell is that thing!?" Once-ler asks, panic in his voice.

"Go inside right now." Ubb says through gritted teeth. The young man turns, running as hard as he can back inside, the screen door slamming behind him. He hears the bottle of whiskey drop to the wooden porch and shatter, followed by three gunshots. Once-ler, unsure what to do, goes to the dining room and sits, silently at the table, trembling slightly.

"_What was that? What the fuck was that!? Jesus Christ! I-I have to stay in here-what the hell _was_ that thing!?"_ He looks around, the silence just making his anxiety worse. "_Why the hell isn't anyone else concerned about this?! Three gun shots, and no one gives a fuck?_" He buries his head in his hands, his ebony hair slipping through his thin fingers. After quite a long time, Ubb walks into the room, the shotgun slung over his shoulder. "What the hell was that, Uncle?" Once-ler asks, frustration barely concealed in his voice. Ubb just looks over at him as he places the shotgun back in its cabinet.

"Don't worry about it, Once-ler. In fact, pretend you didn't even see it, okay?"

"How the hell am I supposed to do that? It looked like it came right out of hell; right in our own back yard, and you tell me not to think about it!?" The middle-aged man shakes his head.

"Just don't think about it, Once-ler. It's dead. Go to bed."

"Yeah, like I'll be able to do that..." he says, sulking as he wanders off to bed.

As he lies in bed that night, he hears a scratching against his bedroom window. Thinking it is just a branch, he rolls over, trying to ignore it and get some sleep-his mind still buzzing from the nightmare he had just witnessed only a few hours ago. The scratching grows louder, as if it is_ trying_ to piss him off. Already in a bad mood, Once-ler gets out of bed and walks to his window, intent on snapping the branch scratching his window and ending its unwanted shenanigans right then and there.

As he pulls back the cadet blue curtains, he sees a pure white face with a perfectly round maw lined with rows of pointed teeth, an impossibly long, coiling black tongue and huge, staring black eyes gazing back at him. Its long, tapering hands scratch at his window. Once-ler screams and pisses himself. Falling backwards, he does the only thing he can think to do; scurry backwards until his back hits the opposite wall. His family enters the room just as the beast breaks through the glass. As it lunges at him, Ubb shoots the creature, dead center of its body with his 20 gauge. It smacks into the opposite wall, black blood splattering against the light wood floor and pale blue wallpaper of Once-ler's bedroom. Without speaking a word, Ubb walks to the flailing, dying creature and shoots it, point blank, in its egg-shaped head, splattering snow-white flesh, bone, grey matter, and black blood all around.

"There, it's dead." He turns to Once-ler. "I told you not to think about the damned thing, Once-ler. You see it, it sees you. You think about it, it thinks about you."

"But you said you killed it!"

"There _are_ more than one. If there is one of something, there has to be more, boy." Chett chuckles, pointing at Once-ler's crotch.

"Once-ler pissed himself!" he says, guffawing along with Bret.

"Shut up, Chett." Ubb says. Isabella says nothing, and Grizelda stands, wide-eyed and silent. "Once-ler, clean yourself up, get dressed, and come to my study. I have to talk to you." he turns to his little sister. "Isabella, you tell the others. You know what's going on here just as well as I do." The normally head-strong woman nods.

After cleaning himself up and getting dressed, Once-ler enters the family Patriarch's office to find Ubb sitting behind his nicely polished wooden desk, a shotgun resting on it with a case of rounds.

"Sit." he says, motioning to the chair opposite of his. Once-ler does as he is told and Ubb stands up.

"There is something about your mother and I. We've chosen to keep it secret from you and your brothers." He turns to face the young man, unbuttoning his shirt. Once-ler knits his brows, unsure of what his uncle's going to do. "Isabella and I were born and raised in a place called Soma Point, far from here. Soma Point isn't a normal place." he says, dropping his voice. His shirt is now open and on his bloated abdomen, near his navel, is an odd, esoteric symbol in jet black. It is a black mass with black tendrils extending from it, coiling in swirling, undulating patterns. A single eye dominates the center of its body. "In Soma Point, every 25 years, six children are born with this mark." he sighs. "On our 25th birthday, we are taken away by creatures like those two I killed today."

"Does mom have that mark?" Once-ler asks, his voice quiet, barely above a whimper.

"No. She wasn't born at the right time and I am grateful for that." Once-ler puzzles over something for a moment, then asks:

"You're way over 25, Uncle Ubb. Why weren't you taken away?" A sad smile crosses his lips.

"I ran. When I was 20 years old and your mother was 14, the two of us ran. It had never been done before. Our mother helped us escape." he hangs his head, "I try not to think about what happened to her because of that." He looks back up. "Even so, we never truly escaped that place. Your mother is lucky. She got to live a somewhat normal life after Soma Point...haven't you ever wonder why your Aunt Grizelda and I have no children of our own, Once-ler?"

"Well, maybe I figured-"

"Marked people like me cannot have human children. Those who are Marked can only breed with those things that I killed today. The results are inhuman abominations called _Brotherhood Assassins_."

"Why?" He asks, disgusted.

"Many years ago, Soma Point was at a turning point. Crops were failing. People were getting sick and dying and no one could do anything about it. The town Vicar in those days, Babson Wright, found an old god. He, along with the three other founders, pledged our town to that demon so that Soma Point could thrive. They cursed us."

"Why are you telling me this, Uncle Ubb?" A somber look crosses the man's face as he sits back down, fastening his shirt.

"How old are you now, Once-ler?" He asks, lacing his fingers.

"I'm 22; you know that, Uncle Ubb." Ubb gazes into the younger man's eyes.

"Because they failed to get me, they want you as a replacement."

"What about Chett and Bret? They _are_ 25."

"They're too stupid to be of use for anyone. Even demons have standards." he scoffs. A sick look crosses Once-ler's face.

"Am I...they're not going to make me..._breed_ with those things, are they?"

"I don't know," he says, shrugging, "They sure as hell will try, though." He scoots the gun and ammunition to his nephew. "That's what this is for, Once-ler. You have to leave. Pack only what you absolutely need-and not that damned guitar-and leave tonight. Take this gun, stay safe. Never stay in the same place twice or for too long. Try to stay in large crowds. The Brotherhood hates witnesses. It's how Isabella and I stayed alive for so long."

"What about you guys? What if those things come back?" Ubb smiles and laughs a little.

"Once-ler, please. You saw me handle those two today. I've killed a damn sight more than that over the years. I can keep the rest of the family safe if any come back. Your mom knows how to handle them, too."

"Then why can't I stay here? Why do I have to go out there all alone?"

"There is a chance that they won't come back with you gone. I am so sorry to have to do this to you, Once-ler, but I have to think of the family as a whole." Once-ler holds back tears. He can't believe this; that his family would abandon him like this.

"So you're just going to send me out there to die!?" tears roll down his cheeks and anger and betrayal burn in his voice.

"Once-ler, please! Try to understand!"

"No! Fuck you!" He looks down at the shotgun on the walnut desk. "Why not just kill me now, Ubb? You're sending me out there to die-let's not pretend that that isn't what this is-"

"It isn't-"

"No, it is. Just take that goddamned gun and blow my head off right now. That way I won't suffer." He cocks his head to the side and raises his shoulders in a mocking manner, "Unless that's what you want?"

"Once-ler, listen! You may not believe it, but you have a better chance out there than you do in here-"

"But you just said that you can handle any of them!"

"One person is a lot harder to find than six. Despite the fact that you're tall as hell, you're boney and have always been able to hide well and run fast. You really are safer out there than in here! Listen to me!" Hurt, Once-ler snatches the gun, slings it over his shoulder, and takes the case full of shotgun shells in his other arm.

"Fine. I'll go pack, but I _never_ want to see any of you ever again."

"It would be better if you didn't."

"Fuck off, old man." Once-ler says, leaving the room and heading upstairs. In all-out sobs, Once-ler throws changes of clothes, a spare fedora, and some blankets into a backpack. He ties the munitions case to the back through the tent-straps, and grips the shotgun in his hands. Without even so much as looking at his family, he steps out the front door and is gone.


	2. Aloysius O'Hare

In the calm, small town of Clearwater, a young half-Irish, half-Japanese family sets down to lunch in their small dining room. The three of them carry out a lively discussion about their plans for the rest of the day.

"Aloysius, what do you plan to do today?" a middle-aged Japanese woman says, her black hair tied back in a green hair-band. Her short son sits across from her and next to his orange-haired, Irish father.

"I was gonna go back upstairs and work on _Wizards and Demons_ some more. My character is about to level up."

"Oh, but Aloysius, it is such a nice day today! You could go play with some of your friends!" the boy rolls his eyes.

"Mom, I'm _fifteen_. I don't _play_." The orange-haired man speaks up, a hint of amusement in his voice:

"You heard him, Yukiko. He's practically a grown man! He has no time to play!" he smiles at his son. Out of the window, the Irish man sees something. The jovial expression on his face drops off, replaced by a wide-eyed fear.

"Murray?" Yukiko asks.

"Yukiko, lock the doors. Take down all our family pictures. Get rid of everything of Aloysius's."

"Geez, dad. I'm sorry. I'll go ride my bike or something." Murray's attention snaps to his diminutive teenage son.

"Aloysius, come into the kitchen with me." He says, so quickly that the boy can barely understand him.

"Dad?" He asks. He had never seen his father like this, or his mother so frightened: moving so frantically around the living room, snatching photographs and science-fair ribbons from the walls.

"Don't ask questions, Al, just do what I tell you!" He stands up from the chair fast enough to knock it to the ground. Grabbing Yukiko's chair, he hurries his son into the kitchen. There, he takes a knife and a roll of duct tape from a utility drawer. Setting them aside, he opens the hatch leading to the cellar under the kitchen. "Go inside, Aloysius."

"Dad!" he shouts, confusion on his face. His heart pounds and he feels dizzy.

"Just get down there, damn it!" The boy hurries down the creaking wooden stairs to the dirt-floored cellar, his father dragging the chair behind him, the knife and tape in the other hand. He sits the chair in the middle of the room. "Sit on it." he barks. Half-crying, Aloysius does as he is told and Murray begins taping the boy's limbs to the chair legs.

"Dad, why?" he asks, tears on his face. Drawing out a strip of the tape, Murray places it, tightly, over his son's mouth. For the first time, Aloysius notices the tears on his father's face.

"I have to keep you silent and still, Al. You are going to hear horrible things upstairs-things you've never heard before, and I can't count on you to stay quiet and still on your own." Murray weeps. "Aloysius, your mother and I love you..." he says, embracing his son.

"_What's going on? God, what's happening? Are they...why...? Why can't he just tell me? Are...are they going to die...?_" Aloysius thinks, his small body rocking with sobs. Standing, Murray begins to leave the cellar. He throws the knife to the ground.

"In case you need to protect yourself. You're a smart boy, Al. You can get yourself free, but don't until it is quiet upstairs or until I tell you it is okay." He dashes up the stairs, shutting the hatch behind him and sliding the rug over it.

Back upstairs, Yukiko has removed all evidence that she and Murray have ever had a child.

"Murray, do you think that it is enough to keep them from him?" She says, her voice cold.

"It will have to be..." he says. Out the window, he sees more of them. People clad in red robes, red cloaks, red gloves, red boots, red hoods, and gold masks. Yukiko breaks down and Murray grabs her by the shoulders, bringing her brown eyes into his blue eyes. "Listen to me, Yukiko. We are going to die here today, don't fool yourself. It is all my fault. I am _so_ sorry that I brought you into this. I am _so_ sorry that they came for us. I am sorry that I was ever born in Soma Point...I am sorry that our son was born there...I am sorry that you ever came there..."

"I am not. If I never went to Soma Point, I wouldn't have met you." she puts her arms around him. "I don't care that we die today. As long as I die with you, I am happy...I love you, Murray." With a few sniffles, the two of them take out their make-shift weapons.

"We're not going to go down without a fight, are we, Yukiko?" He says, forcing a smile.

"Damn straight!" Yukiko replies, with the same false-bravado as her husband.

In the cellar, Aloysius hears the front door break down. Metal slashes against skin. His father groans. His mother screams. He hears them fall, his mother's corpse landing directly above him, her blood dripping down into his hair, on his face, and onto his light blue polo shirt. He hears several footsteps leave through the front door. Aloysius struggles to keep still. Every part of him wants to scream-albeit muffled screams, wants to break himself free from the chair, take that knife, and kill those red people who killed his family. Anger turns to hatred inside the young boy, burning.

"_I'll kill them. Every last one of those gold-masked sons-of-bitches. I won't rest until they all burn in hell. I don't care what happens to me, they have to die! They're gone now, but I'll have my chance. I'll hunt those fuckers down and kill them all! Every last one of them! All of them! ALL OF THEM!_"

He begins to squirm in his chair, rocking it from side to side. Within a few moments, it has fallen to its side, breaking just enough for him to free himself. Tearing the duct tape from his wrists and calves, he throws the tape and chair legs aside. Quickly, and in one go, he rips the duct tape from his mouth, hoping that it doesn't catch on his braces. He, still in a half-crawl, scrambles for the filleting knife left resting in the dirt. With all his strength, he forces open the hatch and drags himself onto the lemon yellow linoleum kitchen floor, now splattered with the blood of his parents. He stands and turns. All the carnage hits him at once, and he falls to his knees, vomiting the roasted chicken he had just had for lunch onto the floor.

When he has finished, he goes upstairs. Stripping his bloodied, vomit-soaked clothing off and casting it to the ugly, lime-green bathroom floor, he washes the blood and vomit from his hair and body. With a towel wrapped around his waist, he returns to his room. Suddenly, it all looks so juvenile to him-the star ships hanging from the ceiling, the action figures lining his bookshelves, the game remaining, paused, on his computer. He dresses in a dark blue sweater and a pair of brown corduroy pants. He quickly packs spare clothing, a spare pair of glasses, a couple of blankets, and the only photograph of his parents and himself his mother didn't destroy before the red monsters came. He wipes tears from his face, cleaning them from his glasses.

"_Stop crying. Stop crying right now, Aloysius O'Hare. You have to grow up now. You have to become a badass, and badasses don't cry. There will be time to cry when those assholes are dead; until then, you cork your cry-hole._" He snuffles a bit and puts his glasses back on. Slinging the messenger bag over his shoulder, he takes the filleting knife into his hand and leaves out the back door. He didn't think he had the stomach nor the heart to dispose of his parents' corpses.


	3. Victoria Shield and Olivia Morris

Victoria Shield sits in her bedroom, her red vest and black sweater lying on the floor. She reclines in a hard, dark wood chair, looking at The Mark. She is 24 years old and would be turning 25 in four months. Ever since her 24th birthday, The Mark had started to change. It would move, the tendrils on Aurozhan's likeness moving and undulating. She scowls.

"_The closer it gets, the more this damned Mark moves. I get it, asshole, it's going to happen soon. You don't have to remind me._" She stands up and dresses. There is a knock at her door.

"Victoria? Are you in there?" came the tired, raspy voice of a middle-aged man.

"Yeah, dad, come on in." she says, still brooding. Her father enters the room. Like his daughter, he has long red hair falling around his tired, sunken eyes. He was clad in his black suit and in his right hand, he carried a suitcase. In the other, a small, black, hard-plastic gun case-fit for a small caliber handgun. "Victoria, I need to talk to you."

"What is it, dad?" she asks, the frustration in her voice replaced by curiosity.

"You'll be turning 25 soon, Victoria." He says, his voice cracking like embers in a fire. The young woman turns to her father. "Victoria," he hands her the suitcase and the gun case, "I want you to pack, take this gun, and flee Soma Point." He holds back his tears.

"Dad, you're the Mayor! How would it look if you let me get away? The Order would have you put to death! They'd take control of the town-"

"They already have control of the town, Victoria!"

"Dad...I can't do that to you..." she says, looking at the burgundy carpet underneath her feet.

"Do you want this to happen? Do you _want_ to be taken away!? Do you _know_ what they do to the Marked!? They'll use you to make one of those damned Assassins, you'll become an Order Priestess, and I'll never see you again!" he takes a deep breath and tries to calm down. "I'd rather face death than see that happen to you, Victoria."

"Dad, I can't leave you! Come with me!" She says, throwing her arms around her father. The two of them sit on Victoria's bed.

"I...I can't. I can't go with you. You said it yourself. If I leave, the Order will take _full_ control of Soma Point. Everyone in town will be put on trial to test their devotion to The Order. Half the damn town will be executed for heresy. I am the only thing standing in the way of that."

"Dad please...don't make me leave you alone..." Victoria says, weeping. He pushes her away.

"Vicki, listen to me. You _have_ to do this. The Order has been talking. Helpers have been sent a mansion a few hundred miles from here. An entire troupe of Assassins have been sent to a house in Clearwater."

"Dad, what does this mean?"

"The Order has something special planned, Victoria. I don't want you to be here for whatever they're doing. Those two families were not chosen at random."

"What do you mean?"

"Sometimes, people _do_ manage to escape Soma Point. It's rare, but it happens. In the mansion, the Struthers kids hid; in Clearwater, the O'Hares. Both of them are families who escaped this place. They escaped, you can too."

"But they were caught. Dad, why can't I just stay? I am just as dead if I leave as I am if I stay here."

"My men say that before more Helpers returned to the mansion, a boy your age was seen leaving, packed and carrying a shotgun. After the Assassins finished in Clearwater, a kid was spotted leaving the house. There are two out there like you. Find them."

"How will I know them?" The middle-aged man takes an envelope from his breast-pocket and hands it to his daughter. "Photographs with the boys' names and where they were last spotted heading. You can find the both of them in no time." Victoria opens the envelope and takes out the two photos. One is of a young man in his early 20s. He wore a white button-down under a blue-grey vest and a blue-grey fedora. His hair was short, scruffy and black. On the back, it read: "**Once-ler. 22 years old. Son of Isabella Struthers. Known to be headed towards Cloudreach. Last seen two days ago. Confirmed Order Target. Capture on sight**". The other was a photo short boy with smooth, black hair; cut just under shoulder-length. He wore a light blue polo and large, square glasses with thick, black rims. He was smiling in the photo, his braces obvious. "**Aloysius O'Hare. 15 years old. Son of Murray O'Hare and nephew of Brother Aloysius. Last spotted headed towards Highcross yesterday evening. Confirmed Order Target. Kill on sight**".

"Find those boys, Victoria." He stands. "One more thing. I have spoken with the Morrises. Olivia is to accompany you on this. She is Marked like you, and her parents have requested that I get her out of here, too. She will be arriving shortly. Pack your bags, Victoria. When you are done, meet me downstairs and we'll wait for Olivia together."

Victoria's father leaves, and the girl begins to pack spare clothing, gloves, a rain coat, and a couple of blankets. She takes the gun out of its case. It is a Ruger .22 caliber pistol. Not very powerful, but it will do. She holsters it at her side and slips spare ammunition into a pouch at her side. She lifts the suitcase and hurries downstairs to find her father sitting on a camel-back couch, his hands resting on his lap. He turns to her.

"Victoria. Come sit with me while we wait for Olivia, alright?" She sits next to her father, sitting the suitcase down. "Victoria...I just wanted to tell you that I love you."

"Dad, don't do this. Olivia and I will find those boys in no time, come back here, do whatever it is we have to do, and everything will be fine. You'll see. Olivia's smart, I'm sure with her on my side, we'll have those boys found by the end of the week, tops." She says, smiling, trying to reassure her father.

"Victoria..."

"Dad, I love you, too. Don't worry. It'll all be okay, I promise." There is a knock at the door and a young woman with mouse-brown hair with loose bangs and a pair of round, wire-frame glasses barges in.

"Hello, Olivia."

"Hey, Mayor Shield! Sorry I'm late." She says, adjusting her green hair-band. She was packed much more lightly than Victoria, with only an army green purse stuffed full of what was probably just panties, socks, candy, and an odd amount of ink pens. She turns to Victoria, who was standing up and extending the handle on her suitcase. "Are you ready to go, Vicki?"

"Yes." Victoria hugs her father one last time and the two girls leave.

* * *

I do not normally write author's notes, as I feel that they are the hallmark of mediocrity, but I feel I have to apologize for the quality of this chapter. It is not up to standards, but I could think of no other way in which to introduce Victoria and Olivia. I am building to something, so please, have patience.


	4. Once-ler's Family

Soma Point

Chapter 4

Isabella has been standing at the front window since the night Once-ler left. As the rest of the family sits in the parlor, playing card-games and talking, she sees something off in the distance. A large group of people, all clad in red, their gold masks gleaming in the midday sun walk towards the mansion, perfectly uniform, even in each step.

"...Ubb, come here and look at this." Isabella says. Her older brother stands from his worn leather easy chair and walks to the tall window. Pulling the deep red curtain back a bit further, he sees them, too.

"Isabella, go get your bolt action and go to the roof." he turns to the rest of the family. "Grizelda, grab the Winchester 38 40 and give a 20 gauge to Chett and Bret each." The rest of the family does as the patriarch says as he grabs his own 20 gauge Mossberg.

"Uncle, what's going on?" Bret asks, confusion in the young man's voice.

"We're going to have to fight. A shit-load of those freaks your mother and I told you about are about to break in."

"Uncle!"

"Bret, you and the rest of the family just need to do whatever the hell I tell you right now, okay?" Just as the slow-witted boy was about to ask another question, a gunshot rings out and they hear Isabella cheer from the roof.

"Did you see that fucker's head explode!?" she cries, glee in her voice. "Look at this bullshit; all they have are swords! _Swords_! This'll be a fuckin' cake-walk!" Ubb knits his brows-his sister was always far too sure of herself. Several of them bust through the window, and Ubb opens fire, taking out three of them at once with the munitions spray. Grizelda follows suit, unloading clip after clip into the Brotherhood Assassins. Bret and Chett stand dumbly, their guns in their hands.

"Damnit, you two, _do something_! Shoot!" Ubb spits, taking out two more. He kicks over a table, "at least take cover, retards!" He slips behind the table to reload his shotgun, popping back up to fire again. On the roof, they can hear Isabella laughing like she's lost her mind in between gunshots. Ubb looks up to his corpulent wife. "Grizelda, take the second floor. Too many are getting past Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dumbass here, and I can't handle all these Brotherhood Assassins myself. Get up there and keep them off Isabella." She nods and heads for the stairs, shooting down any red-clad enemy she comes across.

Ubb stands back up, firing into the crowd. Bret stands, firing alongside his uncle. For a moment, the older man looks over at the younger man, smiling. Taking his queue from that, Chett stands and fires, too, obliterating the head of a nearby Brotherhood Assassin. The three men spread out, shooting down any red-clothed invader they can find; blowing off limbs, shattering swords, pulverizing heads.

"Bret, Chett, the two of you head to the East wing, I'll handle what's left here, okay?" The twins nod and head off East. As they leave, a group of Assassins crowd around Ubb. He smiles, defiantly, and fires into them. Once. Twice. Three times. Four. They fall and only three remain. Ubb fires again and only a click comes from his gun. He backs up, fumbling in his pocket for more rounds. "_Shit,_" he thinks as the three of them converge on him. They grab him and throw him to the dining room table, casting his gun aside. Quickly, they tear his clothes open and tie him to the table. With long, gold knives, they slice into his abdomen. Ubb grits his teeth through the pain-screaming would give them what they want. Red blood spills onto the dark wood table, dribbling to the carpeted floor and pooling in dark red stains.

Bret and Chett run around the East wing, firing at the Assassins until they come to a man clothed in pure white, his snow white hair neatly combed. He smiles at them.

"Once-ler's brothers, the twins. How nice to meet the two of you." He nods and before the dimwitted boys can do anything, they are knocked unconscious. Two people wearing black hooded cloaks completely concealing their faces step from shadows. With thick, fat needles threaded with black yarn, they sew the two boys face to face, mouth to mouth. Going along their bodies. They do not stop until Bret and Chett are one entity. They leave them there.

Upstairs, Grizelda and Isabella work, picking off Brotherhood Assassins as they try to climb the stairs. Almost flying over the corpses of their dead brethren, they continue to ascend the stairwell at the two women. Isabella fumbles with her bolt-action, trying to reload it. Her hubris is shattered, and she is beginning to panic. As an Assassin closes in on her, Grizelda fires, hitting the half-human monster in the side of the head.

"That was my last shot, Isabella." she says, worry in her voice.

"Then use the damn thing as a club!" she snaps, finally reloading her gun. She is down to her last round, too. Still, more of them advance and the two women, in a panic, split up; Isabella running to the right and Grizelda running to the left.

Grizelda dashes as fast as her rotund body will carry her down the left hall until she reaches the end. She looks back at the window as a group of five close in on her. She contemplates jumping. At the back, she sees a black clad person, their face concealed, dragging a metal chair behind them. She grasps her rifle by its barrel and begins to beat the Assassins down, bludgeoning them with the stock as if it were a club. Her arms are grabbed, and four of the remaining Assassins force her into the metal chair, tying her to it. A white-clad man stands at the end of the hall.

"Hello, Grizelda." He smirks. "I've already met your twin nephews and can't wait to meet your youngest nephew." He strides to her, his robe flowing around him. "You know, you really are a piggy, aren't you, you fat bitch?" he says, his face only inches from hers. She spits in his face. Laughing, he wipes the spit away. "Oh now, that's not very lady-like, is it?" He turns to the black-clad person and the remaining Assassins. "Roast this piggy." The five of them douse Grizelda in kerosene and light her on fire.

At the opposite hallway, Isabella has holed herself up in a small bathroom. Hiding in the bathtub, she holds her gun close to her.

"_If I could just get downstairs, there have to be a few rounds left...Oh God...why? I know I've not been the best person: I'm greedy, I'm arrogant, I demand way too much of everyone around me. I've been a terrible mother; to Bret, to Chett, to Once-ler...why the hell did I even name him that? What the hell kind of name is that?_" Outside of the door, she can hear more of them scurrying around, kicking down doors, stabbing through closets. In the distance, she can hear flames roar and can make out Grizelda's screams...for a while. She shuts her eyes, trying to prepare herself for what she knows is coming. There is a knock on the bathroom door and a sultry, male voice says in a soothing tone:

"Are you in there, Isabella? Are you decent?" She holds her tongue. "I know you're in there. Why not make it easier on yourself and come on out now? I also know you only have one shot left. Why not fire it now? You might just get lucky and hit me. Wouldn't that be great?" Isabella grits her teeth, fighting her urge to do just what that mysterious man suggested. "How would you feel to know that, without even realizing it, your sweet little _Oncie_ is headed right to me?" he chuckles. "He's walking right into Soma Point and doesn't even realize it." She can hear him place his hands against the door, his face close to the light-yellow painted wood. "How does it feel to know that the very thing your whore mother died to stop is happening, but to your _son_ instead of your brother? Just how much does that piss you off, Isabella? On a scale of 1 to 10?" With that last remark, Isabella loses her composure. She stands in the bathtub and fires to the center of the bathroom door. A moment later, a white-haired man pokes his head through the splintered hole. "Nice shot, but you still missed me, Issie."

"You bastard." she says, with tears in her eyes. He snaps his fingers and a large group of black-clad people enter the room. Isabella's eyes widen. "...O-Order Priests. God, no! No!" She tries to run, but they grab her by the arm, yanking the gun from her other hand. The white-haired man throws his head back and laughs.

"Where's your attitude now, Isabella? Oh yes, I believe you know what we have planned, don't you?" She struggles in their grip and the white-haired man smiles, the bottoms of his eyes wrinkling up. "Take this bitch downstairs to her brother. Crucify her upside down at his head. It'll be a thing of beauty. A work of art." Isabella screams as they drag her down the stairs. A small group of them split another table into two halves and bind it together, making a cross while others gather nails, a hammer, and rope. Isabella screams and nearly collapses when she sees this.

"God! Please, God, no! NO!" They drag her over to the cross and lay her down on it, on her back, and hold her still. She squirms as she sees them gather the nails. "Please! You don't have to do this!" she cries. Two of them hold her right arm still as the third drives a single long, black iron nail through her arm, between the radius and ulna. Isabella screams in agony as blood bubbles out around the wound. As those three go to her left arm and repeat the process, another ties her arm to the cross, ensuring that she won't slip down. As the nail pierces her other arm, she screams again, and they tie her arm to the cross, just as they had done with the right. They then move to her feet. Holding them together, they drive two nails in, at each foot and bind her ankles to the bottom of the cross. Finally, they bind her at the waist to the middle. She gasps and sobs, blood running from her mouth. A group of them hoist the cross, upside down, above Ubb's head and fasten it into the wall with six long, thick nails. The white-clad man stands, smiling; admiring his work.

"Great job here, all of you. Lessgo!" he turns and the few remaining Brotherhood Assassins and Order Priests follow him out.


	5. Petaluma

Soma Point

Chapter Five

Two young women sit at a small table outside of a diner in Petaluma, a small town just a few miles west of Soma Point. The brown haired girl had a small, hand-drawn map sprawled between their meals. With a mouth half-full of french fries, she jabs at two points on the map with her right index finger.

"Take a look, Victoria." she says, swallowing her food. "Cloudreach and Highcross. Look at 'em, Vicki." Victoria takes a bite off her hamburger and thinks for a moment.

"Yeah, what about 'em, Olivia?" The other girl takes a long drink from her chocolate milkshake.

"Notice anything? Clearwater is east of Highcross. The mansion that Once-ler guy came from is east of Cloudrest. Guess what's to the east of the pair of 'em?"

"Soma Point." she says, sitting her food down and lacing her fingers. "If Aloysius and Once-ler keep this heading, they'll walk right into Soma Point without realizing it."

"Before they hit Soma, they'll hit Petaluma. I say we wait here for them, intercept them, and head back to Soma with the two of them." The brown haired girl sits back, her arms folded behind her shoulders and her ankles crossed.

"What then? What do we say to the two of them? "Hey, guess what? You're both being tracked by demons and cultists and the two of us have to take you right into that town that, coincidentally, you're walking right towards anyway?" Why would they believe that? They don't even know us, Olivia. Please be a little more realistic." Victoria says, crumpling up her hamburger paper and stuffing it into her and Olivia's shared empty fry-box.

"Think about it, Vicki! _Brotherhood Assassins were dispatched to the boy's house._ He's seen 'em. He knows some wonky shit's going down. Same with the bean-pole. _He saw two Helpers_. They can't afford to ignore our help." she wipes some crumbs off her green skirt. "Personally, if I was poindexter, I'd be out for revenge against the Assassins and the whole damned Order, for that matter." The red-head mulls this over, sucking out the last of her drink.

"Petaluma is a small town. Close-knit. Hell, no one's spoken to us outside of those nice folks in there that took our orders. I'm sure they'd notice a six-and-a-half-foot-tall guy and a _little person_ coming in, especially all packed and armed like they are." Olivia tosses her drink cup into the nearby garbage. "Olivia, what is their ETA?"

"Huh?"

"When do you think they'll reach Petaluma? We don't have all the time in the world." The bespectacled girl looks closer at the map and thinks, humming audibly. Her quirky nature was beginning to wear thin on Victoria's nerves. "Well, the tall guy _would_ get here first, but he has a much longer walk, despite the fact that he left almost two days before the kid. Kid's small, and probably really, really pissed-so he's bound to be moving faster and is less likely to have to fight more Brotherhood Assassins-though his stumpy legs _could_ slow him down..."

"Olivia..."

"Shit, let me think! Damn!" She looks over the map a bit more. "_Highcross is about five or six miles closer than Cloudreach, but those legs..._" She looks up. "Once-ler. He _should_ reach Petaluma a few hours before Aloysius." She shrugs. "It's all moot, though. I mean, what are they going to do when they enter town, stand and announce themselves? They're _in hiding_, remember, Vicki? We'd have to split up and patrol the west entrances into town and intercept them as soon as they enter. Then what? The two of them will likely be hostile and think, especially if we tell them right off that we're from Soma Point, that we're going to try to kill them. Then, there's secret options numbers two and three..."

"And those are?"

"That Al could be killed by Brotherhood Assassins and Once-ler could be taken by Helpers before they ever reach Petaluma. In that case, we're all royally screwed."

"And _secret option three_?"

"They bypass Petaluma completely and head straight for Soma without stopping."

"Then we should split up and head towards Highcross and Cloudrest."

"They may not be taking the roads. We didn't take the road from Soma Point to Petaluma."

"I hate just sitting here waiting like this, though."

"It's the best we can do, Vicks."

"Please don't call me that, Olivia."

"Sorry. Good news though, they should be arriving either late tonight or early tomorrow, so we won't have to wait long." The red-head stands up, adjusting her red vest.

"Then I suggest we go to the western side of town and start waiting. We can't afford to miss either of them." The two women dispose of their food wrappers and empty drink cups and head to the western edge of town.

Twilight has descended on the small, post-card-like town and the two young women sit, a few hundred yards from one another. Just as she is about to nod off, Olivia sees someone: tall, lanky, and carrying a pump shot-gun. She turns and runs to Victoria. In a rush, she blurts out:

"It's him, it's him! That Once-ler guy. Gotta be him, see him? He's right there? Tall? Big gun? Backpack? Stupid hipster fedora?" Victoria strains her eyes and looks out in the direction into which Olivia is pointing. Surely enough, a young man fitting the description of Once-ler strides towards town. "What do we do? Shit! I should have been thinking about this!"

"We wait for him to enter town and casually introduce ourselves, saying nothing of Soma Point until that gun of his is far enough away from him that he can't pick it up and blow us away, Olivia."

"Good! Good idea! We'll pretend to be a welcoming committee! He'll fall for that, won't he? Of course he will!"

"Calm down, Olivia. You'll freak him out." The two girls stand, Victoria trying to conceal the pistol at her side under the long, black jacket she brought with her. After a few moments, Once-ler steps into town.

"Hello, new-comer! Welcome to Petaluma!" Olivia says, all smiles. She nudges Victoria in the side.

"Yes, hello and welcome. I am Victoria and this is my friend Olivia. What is your name?" Once-ler keeps his gun low, but doesn't loosen his grip. A perplexed look crosses his face.

"Once-ler." he says, flatly. "Is there anywhere I can stay? I really need a bed for the night and something to eat wouldn't hurt, either. What hotels would you recommend?" Olivia stands, stymied, while Victoria responds, confidently:

"There is a nice inn further up this street. I'll lead you to it. My friend Olivia needs to stay behind-part of our duties as _welcoming committee._" She leads Once-ler to the hotel, completely unsure of exactly how good of a hotel it truly is. A few moments later, Olivia notices someone else walking along the path. Someone _much_ shorter.

"_Him now, too? Shit, Vicki isn't here. I'll have to handle the kid myself. Damn, I suck at talking to kids_." Olivia stands and slowly walks to the gate, never taking her eyes off the small silhouette moving ever closer. In the dim light, she could see that the small figure carried a kitchen knife of some sort, grasped tightly in his right hand. As the teenager approaches, Olivia kneels down so that she is at eye-level with him. Trying not to focus on the sharp knife held, white-knuckle, in his hand, she speaks: "Hello, and welcome to Petaluma! I am Olivia Morris, the welcoming committee!" She smiles. She can see the fear in the boy's dark eyes, even with the glare on his glasses. The muscles in his right arm twinge-he's fighting the urge to stab her. "_Shit, is he a little psychopath? No, Olivia, he just saw his parents brutally murdered and has been wandering alone all this time. I'd scared shitless, too._" She relaxes her stance, hoping to calm him down a bit. "How about we loosen our grip on that knife and you tell me your name? That way I can help you." The boy slips his blade into his messenger bag.

"My name is Aloysius O'Hare." he says, his voice quiet, distant. "I...I'm really tired and hungry. I've not slept or ate in three days." He wobbles a bit.

"_Shit, this isn't good. Kid's about to pass out. Poor little guy._"

"I...I think I'm just going to sit for a moment, okay, Miss Morris?" he drops to the dirt, lying on his side. He's still conscious, and Olivia leans in to the boy.

"Listen to me, Al. There's an inn up the street. My friend is there, and we'll take care of you-make sure you get something to eat and a nice, warm bed to sleep in. You're just going to have to let me pick you up, okay?" O'Hare's too weak to argue with her and simply nods. Olivia lifts the teenager into her arms and walks him to the same inn to which Victoria took Once-ler. Inside, she can see him sitting at the bar, eating a rather large plate of chicken wings and drinking a pitcher of beer. Victoria leans against the opposite wall, watching the door. Her gaze shifts from one of contempt to one of concern the second she sees the small boy in Olivia's arms. She rushes over to the two of them. "Victoria, can you go get a room for this boy? The photo said he's under 18, so get it in your name or whatever. He needs rest and something to eat." Victoria hurries over to the bar and rents a room from the young woman behind the bar as Once-ler orders another plate of chicken wings and second pitcher of beer. A moment later, Victoria returns to Olivia and Aloysius.

"I've rented the room under the name Dianna Marsh. It's the last one on the right side of the hall." She and Olivia take the small boy back to the room, Victoria unlocking the door and Olivia laying O'Hare on the bed. She sits beside O'Hare, looking down into his eyes, a look of kindness, a softness in her own. "Aloysius, what would you like to eat?"

"...how...how do you know my name...?"

"My friend Olivia and I are supposed to protect you from the people who killed your family. We were sent to find you and the tall man out in the bar."

"I...I just want something hot and easy to eat-a stew or soup and something hot to drink, some tea would be nice-green if they have it."

"You got it, Al." she says, rubbing his head and slipping the messenger bag from him, letting it slide to the floor. She stands up and leaves, motioning for Olivia to follow her to the door. "I had Once-ler register for a room under the name Andrew Bowen. Once-ler is a weird enough name to get him noticed. There's two beds in the that room. One of us will stay in there with him while the other stays with the kid."

"I'll take the room with Once-ler. You're better with the kid than I am. You'd be better in there with him." Victoria hands Olivia a brass key.

"It's right across the hall. He's already pretty drunk-that was _not_ his first pitcher of beer. Have fun." she says, her voice slightly smug. Victoria strides down the hall, pleased that she won't have to spend the night in the same room as that drunk turd.

After a few moments, Victoria returns to Al's room. The boy has changed, his clothing resting on a nearby chair and his shoes sitting, neatly, by the door. He is dressed in pale blue pajamas, his feet bare. The scent of the food seems to have woken him up a bit. He smiles at her, still visibly weak and exhausted.

"Hey, Aloysius. I got you some tomato soup-made fresh and still very hot. Won't get caught in your braces, either. They didn't have any green tea, but they did have chamomile, so I hope that's okay." he nods.

"It's fine, thank you, Miss Victoria." He takes the food and begins eating, gasping in-between mouthfuls. Periodically, he takes deep, hearty gulps from his tea.

"_Lord, how long has it been since he's eaten? Kid acts like he's not eaten in weeks...has he been out there all this time just wandering? Nothing to eat, no sleep? Poor boy._" She looks over at him, "Al, how long has it been since you've eaten anything?"

"Three days." he responds, going back to his meal. Victoria sits on the other bed in the room, watching him. He doesn't even notice. He finishes his meal and yawns. Pushing the tray away from himself, he lies back. "I...I should probably get a shower, but I'm just so...sleepy..." his eyes slip shut and Victoria walks over to him. Carefully, she removes his glasses and sets them on the bedside table. She lifts the food tray and slips out of the room to return it to the innkeeper. In the hall, she sees Olivia struggling to get a very drunk Once-ler into his room.

"_He's going to have a hang-over tomorrow. Great. Spiffy. Well, at least he may be more receptive to what we have to tell him. I'm not sure how the kid'll take it._" she thinks as she heads back to the room that she and Aloysius will be sharing that night. The boy has already fallen into a deep sleep, but even so, Victoria only removes her boots, vest, and gun and holster. Stretching, she lies down.

Across the hall, Olivia tries to drag an extremely drunk Once-ler into their shared room.

"Hey missy, I don't even know you-you tryna...tryna get in my pants?"

"No, you need to sleep. You've been walking a long time." Wobbly, he looks into her eyes, a goofy smile across his lips.

"I. Sure. Have." he says, tapping his finger against her nose with each word. He leans against the wall, "Wooing" every so often.

"You need to quiet down and get into that room, Once-ler."

"No, I'm cool here. I just need to stand for a minute." Olivia takes off her glasses. Rubbing the spot between her eyes, she says:

"No, you're _not_ cool out here. You _have_ to go into that room and get some sleep." she puts her glasses back on.

"Why?"

"_Fuck, this is like talking to a two-year-old._" She grabs him by the shoulders. "Look at me, Once-ler. You're going in that room whether you like it or not. You need to sleep; you have a very important day ahead of you and you have to be rested for it."

"Fine, fine, whatever." he says, throwing up his hands and staggering into the room. He flops down onto the bed, face-down. He lies still for a while, Olivia thinking that he had fallen asleep-_passed out_ to be more precise, when he suddenly shouts:

"Jesus Christ Almighty, it is hotter than a heater in hell in here! You feelin' that, Livs?" She sighs.

"You've had too much to drink, Once-ler. It's your body heat rising to your skin. You only think it's hot."

"Imma take my clothes off..." he says, his voice slurred.

"No!" Olivia says.

"Relax, prude. I'm just gonna take off my vest and shirt. Nobody sees the "D" without earning it, anyway." he laughs, slipping out of his vest and throwing his fedora across the room. He unbuttons his shirt and whips it across the room, smacking it into the opposite wall as hard as he can. "Ha ha! Shazam!" he looks over at her, smiling wide. "Guess what, Olivia."

"What, Once-ler?" she says, annoyance in her voice. He leans close to her, the same goofy grin as before dominating his features.

"I got a secret."

"And that is?" The mirth is sucked right out of Once-ler as he turns a lovely shade of green.

"I'm gonna puke," he says, vomiting at Olivia's feet. He collapses back onto the bed, completely passed out.

"_Isn't this just peachy?_" Olivia thinks, cleaning the vomit with a couple of towels from the bathroom. After cleaning herself and her shoes, she turns Once-ler over onto his side and slips into the other bed.

The next morning, the four of them decide to go to the park to discuss their next course of action. Sitting under a tree, Once-ler keeps the brim of his fedora pulled over his face, grumbling every so often.

"Why does it have to be so ungodly bright out today?" he hides his eyes in his hands.

"You drank four pitchers of beer last night, what did you expect? It's a wonder you didn't get alcohol poisoning." Victoria says. Turning to O'Hare, she says, "Mr. Once-ler needs to listen, too, but I doubt he will. Olivia and I know about what happened to the two of you-how people in red killed your mother and father and how spindly, white monsters tried to get Once-ler. Olivia and I come from a place called Soma Point-"

"That fuckin' place? God, we're going to have to go there, aren't we?" Once-ler says, hatefully.

"Yes. You see, the four of us descend from the Four Founders. Once-ler, you are the descendant of Durward Cresswell. Aloysius, you descend from Bedell Beaumont. I descend from Anselm Krause. The most important of is is Olivia, she descends from Babson Wright-the one who started The Order."

"So, little miss exposition-machine, why do we have to go back? My mom and uncle have stayed hidden for this long, why can't we just stay hidden?" Olivia, still quite frustrated with Once-ler from last night, stands.

"Because it has to stop! Too many people have died because of The Order! _Your grandmother died because of The Order_, Once-ler. The four of us are the only ones who can do it." she looks over at Victoria. "And Victoria and I don't have a lot of time left. Our 25th birthdays are coming up. When that happens, white monsters like the ones you saw-_Helpers_, will take us away, make us breed with them to make Brotherhood Assassins, and we'll become Priestesses of The Order. From The Helpers coming for you, they'll do it to you when you turn 25, too, Once-ler." O'Hare looks up at the nerdy girl.

"What about me? I...I don't want _that_...some monster on me..." She turns to him, still a bit of fury in her voice.

"No, The Order will just kill you." His eyes grow wide and fear fills him.

"Olivia, shit, think of the boy's feelings!" Once-ler stands, unsteadily. Propping himself against a tree, he says:

"Fine, but if we're going to that hell-hole, we're going to need to be a lot better armed. I have my shotgun, I see that Victoria has a pistol, and you don't seem to even have a weapon, Olivia." He looks at O'Hare. "And _you_. A filleting knife. A goddamned _filleting knife_? You really couldn't have found anything better?"

"Once-ler, we know you have a hang-over, but quit being such a dick to everyone." Victoria says, trying to keep her voice calm and cool.

"All I'm saying is we could go back to my place. My family has a fuck-load of guns-shotguns, pistols, rifles, revolvers; you name it. Hell, I wouldn't doubt that Ubb has grenades hidden around somewhere." Victoria smiles.

"Finally, you say something worthwhile, Once-ler. It sounds like a solid plan to me; when we return to Soma Point, it is almost a certainty that The Order will have complete control and will dispatch every available force to kill the four of us. We need to have enough fire-power to defend ourselves. What do the rest of you think?"

"Sounds fine to me, Vicki." Olivia says. O'Hare stays quiet.

"Aloysius? What about you?" Victoria says.

"My opinion matters? I'm just "the kid". I'm not even special enough that The Order would even let me live. I don't even _have a weapon that is worth a fuck_." he directs that last statement at Once-ler. Victoria sits down next to him, putting her arm around his shoulder.

"Al, you're just as much a part of this as the rest of us. We can't do this without you. I'm sorry you feel that you aren't part of us because you're younger, but you are. Your opinion does matter."

"Then I say we go to Once-ler's house and get better weapons-even me. I want a .38." Victoria smiles at him.

"Sure thing, Al. You can have a .38."

"So we're going then?" Once-ler asks. The three others nod and the four of them leave for the mansion.


	6. Marietta

Soma Point

Chapter Six

The hot, July sun beat down on the four travelers as they walked to Once-ler's mansion. It had been nearly a week since the four of them had left Petaluma, having to keep a slow pace for Aloysius's short legs. Finally, the four of them reach the front porch of Once-ler's old home. A cacophony of buzzing fills the air, along with the stench of human decomposition. Once-ler's eyes grow wide and he bolts, nearly knocking the front door from its frame.

"Once-ler, don't go in there!" Victoria shouts. She kicks at the dirt and turns to Olivia. "I have to go in there with him. _We all know what's in there_, and once he sees it, arming ourselves will be the furthest thing from his mind." She kneels down in front of O'Hare. "Al, this is not because you're a kid, but only one of us needs to go in there with Once-ler. I want you to stay out here with Olivia, okay?" Without waiting for him to reply, Victoria runs inside the house.

As soon as she hits the foyer, the stench hits her. She doubles over and vomits on the parquet floor. "_Fuck, they've been dead a while...poor Once-ler._" She looks up and sees all the dead Brotherhood Assassins lying about, gunshot wounds in each of them; some missing limbs and heads. "_At least they put up a fight...like an army of BAs in here._" In the background, she can hear Once-ler running from room to room, screaming. Collecting herself, and stepping over all the dead Assassins, she strides into the parlor, breathing out of her mouth as much as possible. There, she finds it. The gun cabinet, flung open, bereft of any gun or even a single bullet. "_Should have known that this was too good to be true. Shit._"

Once-ler runs through the house, casting about. To his left, he sees Bret and Chett sewn together, dead, on the floor. He kneels next to them, tears in his eyes.

"What the fuck is this? They're _sewn together_! Who the fuck _does_ something like that!?" From the blood splatters and torn wallpaper, it appeared that they had lived quite a while like that, and had attempted to flail their way down the hall. He slips upstairs and finds his aunt, still bound to the chair, her flesh burned a deep black. The heat was enough to partially melt the metal chair on which she sits. He stands, stunned for a moment. "_Mom!"_ he thinks. He scours the top floor and heads back downstairs. In the dining room, he finds her...and his uncle. Ubb is bound to a table, torn open and above him hangs Isabella. Upside down. Crucified. Once-ler drops to his knees, screaming. It is all he can do. He falls to his side on the filthy carpet, sobbing. After a few moments, he thinks he hears something underneath him. Sniffling a bit, he stands and goes to investigate. "_It sounds like it's coming from the basement...the only way into the basement is the kitchen._" he steps by his mother and uncle, trying not to look at them, his eyes still misty.

After entering the kitchen, he stands there for a moment before the basement door. It had always been heavily locked-_three_ padlocks, a dead-bolt, a chain-lock, and hook-and-eye lock. Having no time to bother with all six locks, he raises his shotgun and blows the door open. Instantly, a smell of mold, decay, and dust fill the room, along with something much more _human_. Carefully, he descends the stairs into the darkness. As he reaches the bottom step, he fumbles for a light-switch. Flipping it on, he finds something he never expected to find. A young woman, his age, shackled to the wall opposite of him. She wore a long, tattered light blue dress. Her feet were bare and her hair was long and orange-the same orange Grizelda's had been. Long steel chains hang from her wrists and ankles, bolted to the stone wall behind her. The only window had been boarded up long ago. A small, slightly rusted bed sits against the wall, along with a toilet, sink and large amount of tins of food-most empty. The young woman stands and faces him and he sees her face. It nearly knocks him back, and he resists the urge to scream. Her skin is milk-white, just like the _Helpers_ he had seen. Her face had no nose and, the strangest of all, she had _three eyes_-all crimson, the third in the middle of her forehead, right above the pineal gland. Her mouth was lip-less and she was every bit as tall and lanky as him. The chains rattle at her right wrist as she points towards him, just to his left.

"Letter," she says, "Left by daddy, in case you find me." Looking to his left, Once-ler snatches the piece of fresh, white paper from the wall.

_Once-ler,_

_ If you're reading this, then I'm dead and you've just found our family's darkest secret. You will recall me telling you that your aunt and I never had children because I can't have human children. That isn't entirely true. Right before you were born, Grizelda gave birth to a monster. I wanted to kill the thing right on the spot, but Grizelda and your mother forbade it. We shackled it in the basement. Make no mistake, Once-ler: that beast is your cousin, but it is also a Brotherhood Assassin-a tool of The Order. If you try to free it, it will kill you on the spot. It has been 22 years since we first left it in the basement, and every single night I contemplated killing it-to strike that abomination I created from this world. Please have the strength to do what I could not. Kill it._

_Ubb_

Disgust fills Once-ler as he reads over the letter a second time, trying to absorb the information contained therein.

"_They chained her in the basement like a beast? She doesn't look so dangerous to me...she's so...thin...frail. Her hair is so long. Have they never cut it? The tins of food...did they just dump a bunch of food down here for her every so often and leave her? How often did they even bring her food? Has she had to starve because of them? How much longer where they planning on keeping her secret down here? A prisoner._" Carefully, Once-ler walks over to her. She sits on the ratty bed, all three eyes fixed on him. She is smiling. "Uh, hello, cousin. Do you have a name?" he asks, uncertain if she can even understand him. Her smile broadens and he notices that every single tooth in her head comes to a fine point.

"I am Marietta. You are Once-ler." She says, pointing to him. Her fingers are long, and her nails are pointed, like talons. It is the same with her feet.

"How do you know my name?"

"I could hear you talking upstairs all these years. I put the voice to a name. You are the one called Once-ler."

"All this time, you could hear me?"

"I could hear all of you. The twins were hard to tell apart-they have the same voice and walk the same. You have a long gait. The one called Isabella by Momma and Daddy and Mom by you and the twin boys stepped smaller than she needed to. She talked too much and was very mean-especially to you. Daddy had the shortest gait of all and never said much. He wouldn't even talk to me when he would bring me food and a new dress. Momma had heavy steps." She smiles at him, blissfully; happy to see someone in what Once-ler guessed was a very long time.

"_She speaks as smoothly and clearly as any person, but she lacks the intonation and inflection of human speech...I hate to even think this, but she sounds like when a person tries to teach an animal to talk._" Once-ler shuddered, despite himself, but Marietta didn't seem to notice.

"Is it done upstairs?"

"Is what done?" he asks, still trying to ignore the way her voice makes him uncomfortable, or the way her three eyes keep locking into his.

"All the noise upstairs. I heard seventy-five people come into the house and five leave. There was a lot of booming noises and screams. I didn't hear anything for a long time after the five left. Then, I heard you! I didn't think I would hear your feet again-but there is someone else. Female and likely thin and young, but I don't know who she is. Is she a friend?" She stops talking and looks up. "I can hear her now. She's moving this way, Cousin Once-ler."

"Once-ler, get away from that thing." Victoria says, her voice flat. She raises her gun and levels it at Marietta. The poor, semi-human girl screams and balls up on her bed, the chains falling around her. Once-ler stands in front of her, his arms splayed out.

"_That thing_ is my cousin Marietta, Victoria, and I would appreciate it if you'd put the gun down." He says, looking her in the eyes.

"_She_ is a fucking _Brotherhood Assassin_, Once-ler! She'll kill every one of us if I don't kill her now!"

"She's chained to the motherfucking _wall_, Victoria!"

"Then let's leave it here to die." she says, holstering her gun. "C'mon. There aren't any spare weapons or munitions here. This place was a bust. I'll understand and even help if you want to bury your family, but I'm not going to help that monster."

"I don't need your help to free her, but I'm going to, whether you like it or not. Remember, you need me, and unless you want me to stay right here, you'll at least _tolerate_ Marietta." He looks over at his cousin. "Marietta, I promise I'll come back down here and let you out, but first I have to bury our family and get rid of all the dead _bad people_, alright?" he says, addressing her as if she were a child.

"Okay, Once-ler. I'll wait." he turns to leave and she tugs on his pants. "Thank you for letting me go. I've never seen outside."

"We're family, Marietta. We're the only family we have left, now."

"You won't let the Victoria lady hurt me, will you?"

"No. I promise."

Victoria and Once-ler go back outside and get Olivia and Aloysius. The four of them go back inside. They drag all seventy Brotherhood Assassin corpses into the yard; Olivia, Once-ler, and Victoria throwing them into a pile while they have Aloysius go get some gasoline cans. The four of them douse the monstrosities with the fuel and light them ablaze. Just as night is about to fall, the four of them split up. Olivia and Victoria untie Ubb and stitch his torso shut as best they can. Aloysius, using a pair of shears, snips the black yarn stitching Chett and Bret together and the four of them together carry the three corpses out into the yard and lay them far from the macabre bonfire. Olivia, Once-ler, and Victoria work together to carry Grizelda's obese, charred body downstairs and outside, lying her with the rest of the family. All that remains is Isabella. The four of them work together to bring the cross down from the wall. Olivia looks over at Victoria.

"Vicki, I think it would be too hard on Once-ler to...um..._uncrucify_ his own mother. You and I should do it." the two of them get a hammer and carefully pull out each nail while Once-ler sits on the side-porch with Aloysius. The smaller boy fidgets, uncomfortably. Trying to break the tension, he says:

"I'm really sorry about your family, Once-ler." he wipes putrefied blood and sweat from his forehead.

"Thanks, Al." he says.

"My family is gone, too..." he says, heartache in his voice. Aloysius stares off into space, "I still have my uncle Iori in Shibuya, though." he says, his voice wistful. "I could always stay with him, I guess. Japan's not so bad, and mom always made it sound really fun-though she was from Nagano." Aloysius hangs his head and a couple of tears drop to his dirtied corduroy pants. "...mom..." Once-ler sighs and puts his arms around the small boy's shoulders.

"Do you want to talk about them, Al?" The small boy shakes his head. Olivia and Victoria slip past Once-ler, carrying Isabella's corpse in their arms.

"Once-ler, can you and Al come over here and help us dig the graves? We found enough shovels." Olivia says. Once-ler sighs, shuddering.

"_Ready or not, you have to do this. You can't just leave them like that-you have to bury them_." He stands up. "Alright, we're on our way." the two of them walk to the back yard and begin digging five graves as deep as they can. After a few moments, Victoria makes Aloysius go sit down-he can't dig deep enough. After his family is buried, Once-ler looks over at the other three. "I know it's nasty in there, but we _all_ need to clean up. We all packed changes of clothes, right?"

"I didn't." Olivia says, pouting. Once-ler sighs and rubs the spot between his eyes.

"You're about my mom's size. I'm sure she had something you'd like." As the four of them enter the house, Once-ler heads for the kitchen. Fumbling in the drawers, he finds a ring of keys. "_Surely to God _one _of these has to unlock her shackles_." He looks over at his shotgun, still propped against the wall. "_If there isn't a key, I may have to shoot the chains off._" Slinging the shotgun over his shoulder and taking the key-ring into his hand, he descends back into Marietta's cell.

"Once-ler! You're back!" she says, smiling. For a fleeting second, Once-ler wondered if he _should_ let her go.

"_Maybe Victoria's right, maybe Marietta really is a monster. Maybe she really _will_ try to kill me the second I let her go. Maybe Uncle Ubb was right to keep her down here. _No._ She is my family. If she was going to hurt me, she would have done it when I had my back to her when Victoria found us_."

"Once-ler? Are you going to let me go? Why do you have a gun?" Once-ler forces a smile.

"The gun is in case none of these keys unlock your shackles. I may have to shoot the chains off. It will be loud and scary, but you can be brave, can't you?" She smiles again. Each time she smiles, Once-ler feels a little more afraid of her.

"Yes, I will be brave, cousin Once-ler. I trust you. You are good." He sits down and begins trying to unlock her shackles. After the 12th key, he finally gets the one on her right ankle. "Hooray! One down! Only three left!" she cheers in her strange, inhuman voice. Once-ler starts the process all over again on her left ankle. This time, it is the third key. "Half-way!"

"Please give me your right wrist, Marietta."

"Okay." She grins, moving her arm to him. This time, it takes the 23rd key. "Only one more! I can't wait! Thank you so much, Once-ler! I always knew you were the best in the family!" He takes her left wrist and this time, it is the first key. The last shackle falls to the floor, its chains kicking up dust. "Free! No more chains! No more shackles! Thank you! Thank you!" She grabs Once-ler and hugs him tight, his heart racing. "Thank you, Once-ler! I am free! I can go outside! I can see outside now!"

"Marietta, wait." She stops and turns, quickly-much more quickly than Once-ler had anticipated.

"Yes?"

"Other than Victoria, I have two other friends with me; a girl our age and a boy younger than us. The girl is Olivia and the boy is Aloysius. The boy may be very afraid of you, I just want you to be warned. Please don't move very fast around him or get too close to him."

"Why, Once-ler?" She cocks her head to the side. Once-ler bites his lip.

"_How can I tell her? "Oh, Aloysius saw his mother and father murdered by people who look like you and seeing you might make him remember that and scare him. When he sees you, he will probably think that you want to kill him like the others did." That'd sound great." _Once-ler takes a deep breath. "Aloysius just may not be ready for you. He is a lot younger than the rest of us; still a little boy." Marietta nods.

"Oh. I get it. He is young and doesn't understand like adults." She smiles again. "I've never seen a little boy. This'll be fun. Don't worry though, I won't scare him."

"Hold on just another moment, okay? I have something else to tell you."

"Yes, cousin Once-ler?"

"Miss Olivia is very nice-I promise she is nicer than Miss Victoria. You are very dirty and you need your hair cut and a new dress. Some shoes would be nice, too. We have a lot of walking ahead of us. Miss Olivia will help you pick out a new dress and some shoes and she'll cut your hair."

"Are we going to meet your friends now, Once-ler? New friends for me, too?" she asks. She takes his hand in hers.

"Yes, Marietta. Please, just let me do the talking, though."

"Ah. I see. They are your friends, you should talk to them first."

Olivia, Aloysius, and Victoria sit on the front porch, all freshly washed. Olivia managed to find a long green skirt, black shirt, and green jacket that belonged to Once-ler's mother.

"What's Once-ler doing? There were enough bathrooms that he could have been taking a shower, too, but he went to the basement. What was he doing in there?" O'Hare asks, looking at Victoria.

"_He's doing something dumb as hell in there, is what he's doing._" she thinks. Smiling, she says: "Once-ler has something he has to take care of, and he'll be right out. Can't be much longer, Al." A moment later, Once-ler rounds the corner.

"Guys, I have a family member that survived. I want to warn you about her. She looks a little _different_, but like someone we'd all recognize. Please don't be alarmed. She is harmless. Her name is Marietta, and she is my cousin. She will be going with us and helping us." He turns. "Marietta?" Slowly, the wafer-thin semi-human girl slips into view. Victoria glares at Once-ler, venom in her gaze. Olivia tenses up, and O'Hare screams, crawling backwards until he hits the wall, his eyes wide with terror.

"Is the screaming one the little boy, cousin?" Marietta asks.

"Yes, Marietta. That is Aloysius." She grins and skips over to him, her long hair waving from side to side along with her dress. "Marietta, leave him alone." Ignoring her cousin's request, Marietta gets in close to O'Hare, grinning her needle-toothed grin at him.

"Hi. Guess what? I've never seen anyone like you before!" O'Hare looks up at her from behind his fat, stubby fingers and, in-between sobs, says:

"I've seen plenty like _you_ before." He tries to sit up, and with all the courage he can muster, he looks Marietta in all three eyes. "A group of _people_ like you killed my parents while I had to watch, bound and gagged."

"Marietta, get away from him." Once-ler says, his voice stern.

"But we're becoming friends!"

"Yes, but it is time for you to be friends with Olivia now, okay?" Once-ler says, trying to keep his voice calm and gentle.

"Why me?" Olivia whines.

"Just do it. Take her in there, help her pick out some shoes and a new dress, and cut her hair. She also needs to clean up." he turns to his cousin. "Marietta, do you know how to bathe yourself?"

"Yes." she says. "I know many things. Momma used to leave me books sometimes." she says, grinning. Olivia takes the odd _girl_ into the mansion. After the two of them are out of earshot, Victoria speaks up:

"I hope you're happy, Once-ler. You set that _monster_ free on all of us. I don't give a rat's ass that she's your cousin-everyone in Soma Point has a family member that is a Brotherhood Assassin or Order Priest or Priestess. You should have let me kill her if you couldn't do it." She stands up and walks over to Aloysius. Sitting down next to the sobbing boy, she says: "It's okay, Al. Please calm down. She's gone."

"But she'll be back. Once Olivia cuts her hair and helps her get different clothes and all that, she'll be back-and she'll be with us. _All the time_, Victoria. I can't deal with this. She's going to kill me; I know it. She's going to kill us all-it's what those monsters do. It's why they're called "Brotherhood Assassins"-what other purpose would they serve?" He grabs on to her red vest and pulls himself into her lap, "Please, don't let her hurt me, Victoria! Please...I don't want to die..." he whimpers, "I'm only fifteen..." Victoria strokes his smooth, black hair.

"Don't worry, Al. I won't let _Marietta_ hurt you. I will keep my eyes on her all the time and if she even looks like she's going to hurt you, I'll put a bullet in her brain. I swear, Aloysius." She looks over at Once-ler, who is sulking, leaning against a column. "I promise it to you, too, Once-ler. I'll _tolerate_ Marietta, but the second she steps one toe out of line; the second-and I mean _the second_ that she becomes a threat to any of us, I _will_ kill her." Once-ler just grunts.

A short while later, Olivia and Marietta step back onto the porch. Aloysius has stopped crying, though his eyes are still puffy and his face is still blotchy. Marietta spins around, cheerfully.

"Look at my pretty new dress, cousin and new friends! New friend Olivia helped me pick it out! It is white and has blue flowers! Isn't it pretty?" Her hair has been cut to shoulder-length and washed. On her feet, she wore a pair of Once-ler's shoes-her own feet far too big to fit in anyone else's.

"Yes, Marietta, it is very pretty." Once-ler says. The other three remain silent. Olivia has taken a duffel bag from Once-ler's house.

"Hey, Victoria, come over here. I want to show you something." The sullen red-head stands. Olivia unzips the duffel bag, revealing bottled water, a first-aid kit, blankets, canned food, and, most striking of all, a Brotherhood Assassin sword, gleaming in its red and gold sheath.

"Olivia, I want you to keep that sword hidden. Do not let Al see it. Don't get rid of it; you need a weapon, but don't let him see it. Especially not tonight. I think one melt-down is enough for him for one day." Olivia nods.

"Everyone," Once-ler says, "I think it is time we leave. I know it is late and I know that we are all tired, but we have to get to Soma Point as soon as possible. We will not be taking any roads, and we will be avoiding all towns en route. Is everyone ready?"

"Oh, yes cousin! Going on a big adventure! When you sprang me from my prison, you sprang me hard! An adventure! Just like in the books!" Marietta says, cheerful as always. The other three just stand and grab their bags, Aloysius staying as close to Victoria as he can.


	7. Father Pyralis and the rise of the Order

Soma Point

Chapter Seven

Once-ler, Aloysius, Victoria, Olivia, and Marietta lie, face down, on a hill under the cover of darkness. Beneath them, all hell is breaking loose in Soma Point. In the town, Order Priests drag men, women, and children; screaming, from their homes. The white-haired man stands behind them, shouting. Some are killed on the spot by Brotherhood Assassins. Victoria's lips tighten.

"Just this long and Soma Point has turned into this?" she whispers. Once-ler looks over at her.

"What the hell is going on down there?"

"Heresy Inquisition." Olivia says, "I've seen it happen before, but not on this scale." Marietta seems tense, all three of her eyes fixed on the dark city below, the cheerful expression absent from her nose-less face.

"Why are they doing such a cruel things to the bodies of friends, cousin?" she asks.

"This is what we're fighting, Marietta. This is the _adventure_." He whispers back to her. Aloysius chews on his right thumb. Once-ler turns on his side to face the other four. "Well, one thing's for certain, we sure as hell can't just barge into town with a shotgun, a pistol, and a knife and expect to put a stop to all this. They'll kill us all on sight." Aloysius looks over at him, his brows knit.

"Then what are we supposed to do, Once-ler? We can't let this keep going. Are we supposed to just leave?" Victoria smirks.

"There is more than one way to do something, Al. Let's crawl down a bit so we can talk." The five of them scurry, backwards, down the hill. Victoria stands. "I think we should split up. The Order's presence being that strong can only mean one thing: Father Pyralis-the guy in white, has taken over. My father," she stops for a moment, collecting herself, "my father is probably dead, and the Order has probably summoned Aurozhan."

"Victoria, we are stronger together than apart." Once-ler says.

"Five people are a lot easier to notice than one or two. Each of us has a job to do." she turns to Aloysius and Olivia. "Al, you're small. They won't notice you if you slip in the back way. Olivia knows the way. She'll take you in. While you are there, I want you to accompany her to The Grand Temple of The Order. It is in the center of town. Olivia knows what she's looking for, don't you?" she turns to Olivia.

"Yes, Vicki." Olivia nods. Victoria turns to Once-ler.

"Once-ler, you and I will sneak into town hall. I have the key to my dad's office. You have a shotgun and I have a pistol-but we should only fire if we absolutely have to." Finally, she turns to Marietta. "And _you_. You will blend in here. You are the same as those people in red down there." Victoria reaches into the duffel bag Olivia took. Deep inside, under all the blankets, was a single Brotherhood Assassin uniform. "Put this on." she turns to Aloysius. "Al, please don't freak out. We really need you to keep your shit together right now, okay?"

"Yes, Victoria." he says.

"Marietta, I want you to work recon. Observe them. Watch what they are doing, and for the love of all that's good and holy, don't say a damn word." Somberly, Marietta takes the red uniform and begins to dress in it.

"Yes, friend Victoria. I will do my very, very best to stop the bad men-"

"Do not fight them. You are to _watch_. Do you understand? _Watch_." Once-ler sighs. He was really not ready for this.

"We'll all meet back here when it's over-_if_ we survive."

"No one speaks of the other groups." Victoria says. "It is the only way to keep us all safe. Once we are in there, Once-ler and I don't know you or Olivia, Al" she says, kneeling down to Aloysius, brushing some of his silky black hair from his face. "And you don't know us. Am I clear?" Trembling a little, the boy responds:  
"Yes, Victoria." Victoria turns to Marietta.

"Same goes for you. You don't know me. You don't know Olivia. You don't know Aloysius. You don't know Once-ler."

"But I do! You are my friends and Once-ler is my dear cousin!"

"Marietta." Once-ler says. "Miss Victoria says that if you are caught or that any of us are caught, you are to pretend that you don't know us, okay? Like a game. Pretend."

"Ah! I understand. A play-pretend game! I will pretend to not know you even though I do!" She smiles for a moment, then tears fill her three eyes and a pout crosses her lip-less mouth. She pulls Once-ler into a tight, almost painful embrace. "I love you, Cousin. Good cousin Once-ler. Freed me from the basement. Was kind and nice to me." Struggling to speak, Once-ler says:

"I love you too, Marietta." Victoria looks over at Aloysius.

"Al, I want to speak with you one last time before the five of us split up." Aloysius gulps hard.

"Yes, Victoria." Anxiously, the boy follows the woman a short distance away from the rest of the group. Once she is sure they are out of ear-shot, Victoria kneels down in front of Aloysius, facing him. He reaches up and kisses her, quickly, on the lips. Surprised, she falls back.

"What the hell was that, Al?" The boy's face turns a deep shade of red.

"I-I thought that this is what you wanted-"

"No, honey, it wasn't." Trying to put that awkwardness behind them, Victoria clears her throat. "I brought you out here because I have something very important to tell you. I don't want you to freak out, but Olivia has a Brotherhood sword. She took it from a corpse of one of the Assassins that killed Once-ler's family. She had to arm herself, and it was the only weapon left in the house. I was afraid that if you saw it, it would make you remember your family dying. I asked her to keep it hidden from you. When you see it, please keep calm, Aloysius."

"You like him, don't you?" The boy says, his voice quiet.

"Al...What?" Victoria says, confused. Then, a moment later, she understands.

"Once-ler. You like him." tears well up in his dark eyes. "Why would you want someone like me when you could have him? He's tall, handsome, and your age. I'm short, fifteen, and...and..." Sighing, Victoria takes O'Hare by the sides of his face and kisses the boy. After a moment or two, she breaks the kiss. Wide-eyed and red-faced, Aloysius steps back.

"Wow..." She looks him in the eyes.

"Aloysius, I assure you that I don't _like_ Once-ler. I find him to be a pain in the ass, to tell the truth. It has nothing to do with the way you look or that you are short, it is because I am almost ten years older than you. I would be taking advantage of you, and it wouldn't be right of me to do that to you." She smiles. "Now, let's go save Soma Point."

"Or die trying!" Aloysius says, his mood much more cheerful. The two of them walk back up to the other three.

"You two done? We ready?" Once-ler asks, his arms crossed as he leans against a tree.

"We're ready. Al, go with Olivia-Livs, take care of him, okay? Don't let anything happen to him."

"Sure thing, Vicki." Olivia says, giving a mock-salute.

"Marietta, I need you to slip into town. Act natural-and by that, I mean act like all the other people in red."

"Kill?" She asks. "I do not want to hurt people." she says. Once-ler turns to his cousin. Putting his arms on her shoulders, he forces himself to do the one thing he hates-look her in the eyes.

"Marietta, if the man in white makes you kill, you will have to kill. I am so sorry, but it is part of the pretend-game we talked about. Otherwise, do not kill the _good people_, okay?"

"Okay, good cousin." she says. Once-ler looks over at Victoria.

"I'm all ready here, Vicks." The group breaks up, Once-ler and Victoria heading to the north side of town; Olivia and Aloysius heading to the southern side of town, and Marietta approaching from the east.

Inside the The Grand Temple of The Order, Olivia and Aloysius skulk about, keeping to the shadows and away from windows. Olivia notices an odd smile on Aloysius's face.

"What's with you, Al?" she asks, keeping as quiet as possible. Oddly enough, there are no Priests or Assassins in the Temple, but the two of them decided to keep as quiet as possible. The boy smiles a little harder.

"Victoria kissed me." He grins. Olivia shakes her head.

"I thought it looked like you had a crush on her, kiddo." She pats him on the head. "We have to keep our minds on our mission, though, Al."

"What _is _our mission, Olivia? Victoria says you would know what to look for, but I have no idea." The two of them walk down the marble-floored halls of the Grand Temple, the gilded ceiling turning the light in the room the same golden shade. Slipping into a room near the back of the Temple, Olivia says:

"There are manuscripts of The Order's liturgy held back here. Normally, only the High Priest-that guy in white, gets to see them. If the Order has summoned Aurozhan-of if they are trying to, the only way to stop it will be in here. Since I know what to look for and you don't, please keep watch for me, Al. I'll have to focus all my attention on these texts, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am, Miss Olivia." Aloysius says, nodding. Olivia takes up a thick, dusty tome bearing the likeness of Aurozhan on its brown leather cover. She begins reading. Aloysius leans against the door-frame, looking out towards the hall. After a few moments, his mind drifts.

"_Maybe when I turn 18, Victoria will be with me then?_" his cheeks flush at the thought. "_We could get married, even. We'll make it through this. Love always wins. True facts._" he thinks. So engrossed in his fantasies is he, that he doesn't see the man clad all in white, four black-robed people in tow.

"Well, take a look at what we have here! Hello, little boy! I believe you are the O'Hare kid, born here 15 years ago? Did you decide to come take a little look around our town? Feeling nostalgic?" Aloysius draws his filleting knife.

"Miss Olivia!" he cries out. The young woman draws the Brotherhood sword and rushes to the boy.

"Leave him alone!" she cries out, but she is too late. Aloysius is being held, tight, by an Order Priest. "Don't hurt him!" Pyralis smirks and nods to the Priest holding the boy. The Priest drags the blade across O'Hare's cheek, blood rolling down and onto his shirt.

"Put the sword down, Miss Morris, and I won't have Brother Harold cut the boy somewhere _much more sensitive_." The Priest slips the knife down the front of O'Hare's pants and the boy whimpers, the cold metal touching his warm flesh. Olivia throws the sword down and the Priest, carefully, removes the knife from the boy's groin. "See? Isn't it much better when we are civil to one another?" He turns to the other three Priests. "Take Miss Morris into a nice little holding cell." A wry smile crosses his lips and he turns to look Aloysius in the eyes. "I think we'll let Brother Aloysius handle this little whelp. Take him to the other side of the temple-his _uncle_ is waiting there."

Olivia is thrown into a stone cell. A group of Priests crowd around her, forcing her to her knees and pulling her arms behind her back. They chain her at the wrists so tightly that she cannot move. They leave her. Hanging her head, she lets the tears come.

"_I've failed. The one thing Victoria-no, Mayor Shield-ever asked of me, and I've failed. _'Help Victoria, Olivia. She is head-strong and can keep her cool in a hard situation, but you are very clever. I know with you at her side, the two of you cannot fail." _Sure thing, Mayor Shield. I am clever. Vicki and I can't fail. Never._" She looks up at the empty cell across from her own. "_At least Victoria and Once-ler haven't been caught...Vicki is going to be so pissed at me..._'Olivia, I want you to keep Al safe, okay? Don't let anyone hurt him.'_ Sure thing, Vicks! He's only about to be murdered or worse!...we should have never brought that child into this, any way. He is too young for this shit._" She weeps.

In the Temple, O'Hare is thrown into a dimly-lit room. A single figure, clad in solid black, stands opposite of him, its face concealed under a black hood. Father Pyralis strides into the room, a smug look on his face.

"Brother Aloysius-remove this boy's shirt. Check him for the Seal of Beaumont. I want to see it for myself that this...this _filthy little half-Jap midget _has the Seal." Al's uncle closes in on him, quickly, and grabs him, hard by the right arm. Without hesitation or even the slightest hint of care, he yanks the boy's sweater over his head, taking his glasses along with the shirt. He grabs O'Hare's shoulders and forces him forward. There, on his back, right between his scapula is an ornate Seal, tattooed in black. "Fuck me, the kid has it."

"The symbol on my back? It's important?" Pyralis slaps the boy-no real reason, he just wanted to.

"You stupid, stubby little zipper-head, it is the Seal of Bedell Beaumont!" His cheek still stinging from the slap and his other cheek bleeding a little, O'Hare smirks at the High Priest.

"You say that like it should mean something to me." Pyralis grabs Al by his hair and yanks the boy high enough so that they are eye-level. His feet dangle pathetically.

"The _Seal of Bedell Beaumont_ is the mark of your ancestor-your father has it, your uncle has it, your grandmother had it, all the way back to Bedell himself. It was _his_ seal and by it our Order has remained strong. Someone like you, a filthy nip, doesn't _deserve_ to be descended from _him_. If _I_ were High-Priest when you were born, I would have never let them tattoo your slant-eyed ass." He throws Aloysius to the floor and kicks the boy in the chest. He turns to O'Hare's uncle. "Strip the boy. I'll have Assassins sent in. I want him tortured...naked." He turns on his heels and leaves the room. Aloysius scrambles to his feet to face his uncle. Mindlessly, the man tries to remove the boy's pants.

"Uncle, please!" Aloysius cries out, struggling against his uncle. A bit of orange hair slips out from behind the hood and Aloysius's eyes grow wide. With all the strength he can muster, he shoves him away. The man falls backwards, his hood slipping off, revealing his bare head. His resemblance to Murray was astounding; the only difference was that his hair was much longer, and he lacked Murray's glasses and dagger earring. Aloysius takes a folded, aged photo from his pocket and holds it out, facing his uncle. "Look, uncle! I'm your nephew! Please, don't do this to me! My dad, your little brother Murray, is dead now-I'm all that's left of him. Please don't let them torture me! Please!" The robed man gets back up and walks back to his nephew, his gait slow, staggering-as if he were a living marionette. "I was named after you! All these years, even after The Order took you away, my dad never forgot you! Please!" The Priest stops, gazing down at the ten-year-old photo in his nephew's trembling, stubby hands. Murray stands on the far right, holding a five-year-old Aloysius in his arms; smiling, proud. Yukiko stands next to him, smiling and holding up two fingers.

"...Murray..." A softness- a light returns to the man's eyes. He slips to the floor, tears on his face. "Put on your glasses and shirt, Aloysius. I won't let them hurt you." Doing as he is told, the boy says:

"Thank you, Uncle."

On the other side of town, Once-ler and Victoria walk through the darkened Town Hall, Victoria leading the way.

"So, what are we supposed to be looking for, Miss Shield?" Once-ler asks.

"We have to get to my father's office."

"What's in there?"

"_Damn it, why is he asking so many questions? I don't know, really. I don't know what, if anything, I'll find in dad's office. It's our best shot; our best lead to stopping the Order once and for all. I'll be damned if I tell him that though."_ Without looking back at Once-ler, she says: "Shut up. We have to keep quiet, remember?" Once-ler holds out his hands.

"Fine. Sorry I said anything, bossy-ass." Fumbling in her pockets, Victoria takes out her key to her father's office and unlocks the door. The two of them slip inside. "Should I turn on a light...?"

"No-not the ceiling light, any way. It'd be like lighting a beacon right to us." she turns to Once-ler-or at least, the direction in which she thinks he's standing. "You wouldn't happen to have a lighter, would you?"

"No."

"Fuck. Matches, then?"

"Nope." Victoria leans forward, smacking her hands against her thighs.

"Damn it." she sighs. "We'll try our luck with the desk lamp-it isn't as bright, maybe they won't see us."

"We _do_ have our guns, too." Once-ler says. Taking baby steps and running on memory, Victoria slowly makes her way to her father's desk and, after fumbling for a moment, turns on the small, green-shaded desk lamp.

"...no...dad..." she says, her voice so quiet that were it not for the near-silence of the Town Hall, Once-ler would have never heard her. He looks over and sees what he can only assume is Victoria's dad, dead, bound to his chair. The former Mayor's head hangs, his long, scarlet hair falling in his pale, sunken face. Dried blood makes the floor around him sticky, his body covered in stabs and slashes-the fatal blow around his neck, drenching the front of his suit in blood; now turned brown. Once-ler walks over to Victoria and puts his arms around her.

"Victoria...I'm so sorry..." She turns to him, holding on to him for a moment.

"They killed him...I _knew_ this would happen. I told him not to make me go alone-I told him to go with me. Daddy, why didn't you listen?" she cries into Once-ler's vest for a moment before pushing him away. "There's no time for this...I...I'll deal with this on my own. I have to go through his logs. Once-ler, can you _please_ cover him up or something?"

"Sure thing, Vicki." Once-ler takes off his vest and lays it over Mayor Thane Sheild's face and turns the chair around, so that he faces away from the pair of them. Once-ler looks up after turning the chair around to see the portraits of four men. He stands, studying them. The first is a brown-haired man dressed in all the regailia of a Vicar. His eyes are sharp and cruel and a scowl is plastered on his face. Underneath him, it reads "Babson Wright". The second is a man with red hair tied back in a pony-tail, a short, red ribbon prominent. He wears round glasses and has a short beard and mustache. He is dressed all in brown and white with a brown bow-tie. Underneath him, it reads: "Anselm Krause". The third portrait is of a tall, muscular Frenchman with long, black hair tied back in a frizzy ponytail. A scar dominates his left cheek, and he wears an eye-patch over his right eye. He had a rough, coarse beard. He was dressed all in black with a black apron and parts of black iron armor on his wrists, chest, and hands. Under him: "Bedell Beaumont". Finally, the last portrait depicts a man with shaggy blond hair and sad blue eyes. He wore a white coat, pale blue pants, a white-button down, and white gloves on his hands. Around his neck hangs a caduceus necklace. He was called "Durward Cresswell". Once-ler noticed that under each man's name was an ornate symbol that varied wildly from each man. "Hey, Victoria, who are these guys?" Looking up from her father's journals, Victoria replies:

"Those are the Founders of the Order, Once-ler."

"So, I'm related to this Cresswell guy-the sad-looking one?"

"Yep." she goes back to reading. "He ended up killing himself not long after the Order was formed-too guilty to go on living." Once-ler stands for a moment, thinking.

"What are these symbols under them?" Without looking up this time, Victoria says:

"They are The Seals of the Order. Each of us who are direct descendants of those men have their Seal tattooed onto our backs at birth. I have Krause's on mine, Olivia has Wright's on hers, Aloysius probably has Beaumont's on his."

"What about me?"

"You weren't born in Soma Point, Once-ler. Same for Brett and Chet. They weren't born here, so they didn't get the Seals, either. You're lucky. However, your mother and uncle had the Seal of Cresswell tattooed onto their backs."

"And Marietta? If she were born here?"

"She wouldn't have gotten a Seal. She would have instantly become a Brotherhood Assassin or have been killed."

"Why do that? Why tattoo the Seals onto people's backs when they are born like that?"

"The Order believes that it gives Aurozhan power to keep the Seals on the back of each direct descendant of the Founders."

"What about that Mark Uncle Ubb had? Was it a tattoo?"

"_What the hell are you, Captain Questions? Fuck, just let me read, Once-ler._" She sighs. "No, Once-ler. Like with me and Olivia, your uncle Ubb was born with the Mark."

"Oh." he says. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Once-ler asks.

"You can keep quiet and watch the door. Keep your gun on it."

"Right." he says, sitting on a wooden chair and aiming his gun at the door. After quite a long time of Victoria reading and Once-ler staring at the door, he sees something: solid black and moving like a puppet. Once-ler raises his gun. "_Uncle Ubb always said with shotguns, let 'em get close. The ammunition from shotguns sprays out, and it does more damage if your target is closer...shit! Should I tell Victoria?_" Once-ler leans back. "Victoria, I think we have a visitor." She looks up and slowly, carefully, she draws her pistol.

"Don't move too much, Once-ler. The Order doesn't use guns, just swords and knives. If we stay still enough, it won't charge us." The figure stops. A moment later, several join the figure. They run towards Once-ler and Victoria. Victoria flips her father's desk over and she and Once-ler take shelter behind it, rising up and firing. More and more Order Priests fall and the two continue to fire, more and more coming with each shot. "Fuck, this isn't good. For every one we kill, three more take its place!"

"Victoria, I'm running out of shells..." Once-ler says, trying his best to stay calm.

"How many?"

"Not a lot." he says, sheepishly.

"How many _exactly_?"

"Four, counting what's in the breech." He looks over at her. "What about you?"

"I'm down to six, myself."

"What do we do?" he asks. Victoria couldn't believe it-_he_ was asking her what to do.

"Keep fighting. They aren't going to kill us, Once-ler, just take us captive. if they're doing what I _think_ they're doing, they'll need all four of us alive." The two of them continue to fight, emptying all ten rounds between them into the Order Priests. Finally, a sultry male voice rings out:

"Enough!" Victoria lowers her gun, her eyes narrowed, hate spread across her face.

"Fuck you, Pyralis!" she shouts.

"Aw now, that's not very nice, Miss Victoria! What would your father have thought of you using such _nasty language_?"

"Go to Hell!"

"Now see, I try to be nice. I try to be polite, and this is what I get? _Fuck you_ and _go to Hell_? Once-ler, how about you? Do you have any nice, friendly greetings for me?"

"Nope! As far as I'm concerned, you can suck my ass, too!" he shouts from behind the desk. Pyralis clicks his tongue.

"Kids these days, so disrespectful. Just because you kill their families, they decide to go all _potty mouth_ on you. Tut tut." He holds out his hands, sneering. "I know you two are out of ammunition and I still have _plenty_ of Order Priests out here with me. I also can call as many Brotherhood Assassins as I want at any time. How about the two of you surrender, and I won't have to have my men _hurt_ the two of you?" Once-ler looks over at Victoria, his eyes pleading. She knows what he wants.

"Fuck." she says, throwing her empty pistol aside. She and Once-ler stand, their hands above their heads. "We surrender, _dick_." Before they can so much as blink, Victoria and Once-ler are swarmed by Order Priests. Lifted from their feet, they are taken away.

In a concrete cell, dimly lit, Victoria Shield is thrown to the floor. Before she can react, she is bound in the same manner as Olivia. Pyralis kicks her in the stomach for good measure.

"Where's your _potty mouth_, now, Victoria?"

"Go die." she spits. He kicks her again.

"I see we're running out of colourful insults and have resorted to something so simple as "go die". Nice." He laughs and leaves the room.

"Victoria...?" comes a voice from across the hall.

"Olivia?!"

"Oh, thank goodness you're alive! What about Once-ler? Is he still alive? Did they get him, too?"

"Yeah, they got him. What about Aloysius?"

"...I'm sorry, Victoria. I tried. They got him. He's still at the Temple. I don't know what they're doing to him." Victoria bites her lip.

"_Please still be alive, Al._" she thinks.

In a concrete cell not unlike the one in which the girls are being held, Once-ler kneels, his arms chained behind his back at his wrists. He can't move and pain is starting to spread through his long legs. The cell door opens and Pyralis saunters in, a big smile on his face.

"Once-ler, Once-ler, Once-ler...what the fuck kind of name _is_ Once-ler, anyway?"

"What the fuck kind of name is _Pyralis_?" Once-ler replies. The High Priest backhands Once-ler hard. He teeters to his side and pain shoots through his left arm-a green-stick fracture. He kneels in front of the tall young man and yanks him forward by the collar of his button-down. Once-ler cries out in pain.

"You listen to me, you little piece of shit. Your family has caused The Order _so much_ trouble over the years. From Durward killing himself after founding the Order, to your whore grandmother helping your uncle and mother escape."

"You shut up about my grandmother, fuck-face." Once-ler says, his voice strained.

"_You_ shut up; you didn't even _know_ the bitch! I was just a kid when it happens, but it made me so _hard_ watching that slut be beheaded for her heresy." He laughs. "How does that make you feel, _Oncie_?" Once-ler spits in his face. Pyralis wipes the saliva from his cheek. "I see _that_ runs in your family. Your pig of an aunt did the same thing." he smiles. He takes out a gold knife not unlike the one the Brotherhood Assassins carry and goes to Once-ler's back.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"Scared, are we?" Slipping the blade down the back of his collar, he slices open Once-ler's shirt, exposing his back. "Hmph. I should have known better than to expect you to have the Seal of Cresswell. Your stupid bitch of a mother birthed you outside of Soma Point, same with your retard brothers." he pats Once-ler on the shoulder. "We can fix that, though." He whistles and six Order Priests enter the room. Five of them unshackle Once-ler and hold him down; face-down on the concrete. "Keep his arms spread!" Pyralis shouts, laughing. Once-ler screams as one of the Order Priests puts pressure on his left arm. "Oh ho ho! Is it broken? Take his shirt the rest of the way, I want to look before you start." The Order Priests tear Once-ler's shirt off and cast it aside. Already, his arm is starting to swell and turn a deep violet. "What a nice shade of violet. Break it more." he says. The Order Priest to Once-ler's left presses down hard and he screeches in agony. He can _hear_ his humerus snap. Pyralis laughs, "As fun as this is, I really think we need to give _Oncie_ here his Seal, don't you?" He leans down, his face near Once-ler's. "Ta-ta, bean-pole." he leaves the room and the Order Priests start up the tattoo needle. Once-ler feels his heart pound as it buzzes. With no notion of care, the Priest jabs the needle into Once-ler's pale back. He screams, trying to squirm away. The Priests tighten their grip on him and continue the tattoo, Once-ler screaming until his throat is raw and bleeding.


	8. Aurozhan

Soma Point

Chapter Eight

Al and his uncle run through the temple; the tall, robed man dragging the small boy behind him.

"Uncle!" the former Priest, ignoring his nephew, pulls the two of them into an alcove and places his hand, tight, over his nephew's mouth. Wrapping his long legs around Al's small frame, he holds him still. With his spare hand, he carefully motions to a pack of Helpers being led by a group of Brotherhood Assassins. The two of them sit there, hiding, silent. After a few moments, they pass. Pyralis strides by, his anger not affecting his ethereal gait.

"Find him! Find that little half-oriental bastard! We can't perform the ritual without him, so find his little ass! I want him alive, unmaimed, and _unspoiled_." He shouts. Once the procession has cleared, the former Priest looks down at his nephew.

"Aloysius, I have to get you out of town. I know what Father Pyralis is planning and I can't let it happen to you."

"But my friends! We have to go back for them. I can't run away and abandon them!"

"If we leave now, you have a chance. It is too dangerous to save them. I'm sorry, Aloysius."

"If you don't help me, Uncle, I'll go alone. I have to do this." The Priest strokes the boy's cheek.

"You are so much like your father, Aloysius. So brave. So honorable." He holds his nephew close for a moment. "Let's go save your friends, Aloysius." The two of them slip, quietly, carefully, from the alcove and skulk, slowly through the halls-never straying too far from cover. The two of them turn a corner, and standing before them are ten Brotherhood Assassins and four Helpers on leashes. "RUN!" The former Priest shouts.

As they run, they find their exits blocked by more Brotherhood Assassins and Helpers, each group giving chase.

"Aloysius, run to that corner!" Al Senior shouts.

"Uncle, why?"

"JUST DO IT, AL!" the boy runs as fast as his stubby legs will carry him to the scarlet wall-papered corner, his uncle right behind him. He slams himself against Al, his arms out, bracing himself against the wall and what he knew was to come.

"Uncle! No!" Aloysius watches his uncle flinch and grunt in pain as the Helpers tear into his flesh and the Brotherhood Assassins slash his back with their golden blades.

"Give us the boy!" An Assassin shouts, lacking human intonation and inflection, just like Marietta. Finally, a long, golden blade pierces the Priest's body, the blade nearly cutting Al himself. The Priest's blood spills onto Aloysius's face. Aloysius O'Hare senior looks down at his nephew, his eyesight fading as his life leaves him. The pain and terror in the boy's eyes breaks his heart.

"Al," he says, blood trailing from his mouth. "I want you to run, but wait until I tell you..." he says, his voice weak.

"Y-yes Uncle..." he says, tears soaking his face. Nine more blades are shoved into the former Priest's back at once. He screams in agony and slips forward.

"...run now..." he says. He slumps forward, holding himself in a manner to pretend that he's shielding the boy under himself, Aloysius slipping out from under him just as he falls and slipping behind a low bookshelf. He can hear the Brotherhood Assassins laughing, and the alien gibbering of the Helpers as they tear his uncle's body to shreds. Fighting tears, Al stands up and runs as quickly as he can, the Assassins and Helpers not noticing him at all. He closes in on the door, and is quickly snatched from his feet by an unseen source.

"You Japs really are sneaky little fuckers, you know that?" without having to look up, Aloysius knows he is in Pyralis's arms. "Time to take you to your friends, wee one."

Al is thrown, hard, into his cell with Pyralis entering behind four Order Priests.

"No point in shackling the kid-in fact, get all four of 'em ready for the ritual. Sisters Rose and Elizabeth, take the girls; Brothers Arthur and Calvin, take the boys," he kicks O'Hare, "Including this runt."

"Yes, Father." the four of them respond in perfect unison. Rose and Elizabeth take Victoria and Olivia to one side of the long hallway while Brother Arthur grabs Once-ler by his broken arm and pulls him down the hall, Once-ler screaming the entire way.

Slowly, Brother Calvin walks towards O'Hare. Reaching down in an almost inhuman manner, he grabs the boy by the hair and drags him down the hall. He takes the boy into a small, dimly-lit room dominated by a stone pool. The oil inside glistens under the candle light. He pulls the boy's sweater over his head and throws it aside. He then shoves Aloysius to his back, tears his shoes and socks off, casting them into the corners of the room. He undoes the boy's belt and, coiling his fingers under the top hem of his pants and the waistband of his underwear, he yanks both his pants and underwear off at once, throwing the clothes across the room. Once again, he grabs the whimpering, terrified, naked boy by his hair and drags him towards the pool of oil, removing his glasses and throwing them aside as he walks. Grabbing him by the shoulders, he shoves him in, holding him under for a moment. He draws the boy out, Aloysius gasping for air and coughing. He takes him by the arm and drags him to a bench. Without looking back at him, he tosses a pure white robe to him, along with his glasses.

"Dress." he says, his voice monotone. Nervously, Aloysius dresses in the odd robe, the collar loose around his neck and the sleeves and bottom hem running far past his hands and feet. Brother Calvin walks over to him, a silver medallion in hand. Instantly, Al recognizes the symbol. The Crest of Bedell Beaumont. He slips it over the boy's head and pulls him to his feet. He leads the small teen back out into the hall, Al tripping over the robes here and there, only to be pulled back to his feet by his hair. He casts him onto a bench, Once-ler already sitting at it. Then, Brother Calvin leaves the two alone. Once-ler whimpers every so often, glancing at his left arm.

At the opposite end, Olivia and Victoria sit side by side on a stone bench, dressed in the same white robes as Once-ler and Aloysius, the medallions of their family crests hanging from their necks. Victoria stares off into the distance, her lips pursed.

"_The hell are we getting out of this one? If we were all together, we could organize something-overpower the Priests when they come back to take us in for the ritual, but it's just me and Olivia. Sure, we could probably do something, but I wouldn't be able to know what was going on with Al and Once-ler. Al..."_

"Hey, Victoria, Al tells me you kissed him." Olivia says, forcing adolescent-like cheer into her voice.

"Olivia, I really don't think now is the time to gossip like we're in High School." Olivia frowns.

"Vicki...give it up. We're going to die. There's nothing you can do about it-I know right now, you're trying to figure some way out of this, but there isn't. Let's just pretend this isn't happening-just for now. Let's pretend like we're back in High School and gossip about boys. Please, Vicki, let me die happy." Victoria looks over at Olivia. The other girl's brows are knit together, her eyes sad. She sighs.

"Alright, Olivia. I'll humor you. Yes. I did kiss Aloysius." Olivia giggles.

"So, do you like him?"

"Forget it, this is too juvenile." Victoria crosses her arms.

"Victoria...what do we have to lose?"

"You don't realize it, Olivia, but I knew full damned well that we probably weren't going to make it out of this alive. I kissed him because it was probably his first kiss and sure as hell is going to be his last. I could tell he has a crush on me pretty quick, and figured I'd do him a favor."

"And? C'mon Vicki! You can't hide it from me!" Victoria sighs.

"And what? What am I hiding?"

"Oh, come on!" Olivia begins to mimic Victoria's voice, "Olivia, I need you to keep Al safe. Please, don't let anyone hurt him. Olivia, is Al safe? Where is he?" Olivia begins speaking in her own voice again, "C'mon, you can't tell me it's just because he's a kid. You give two shits about Once-ler-never ask how he's doing. Hell, you don't even seem to care how I'm doing and we've been friends all our lives!" Victoria leans forward, her elbows resting on her knees and her face in her hands. After a moment, she looks up, frustration on her face.

"Yes. Yes, Olivia, I _like_ him, too. You happy? I'm a pervert who has feelings for a kid nine years younger than me. I'm a fucking cradle-robber. If he wasn't 15, I would have slept with him already-is that what you wanted to hear, Olivia?" she snaps. Olivia leans back, her face drawn, surprised at her friend's outburst.

"Geez, Vicki. I was just joking with you...I didn't think you really...him? Really? Not even that he's a kid but _Once-ler_. Mmm-mmm-mmm."

"Oh my dear Lord, this can't be happening..."

"He's just so _handsome and tall_!" she makes and odd, _squeeing_ noise.

"He's a horse's ass."

"Oh, you just say that because he challenges you. Your little Ally-poo does everything you tell him with a "Yes, Miss Victoria"."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're a bossy-boots. Always have been." She pats Victoria on the back. "I gotta ask, when did it start?"

"Petaluma. He just," Victoria blushes, "He was just so _helpless_. I'd never seen anyone like him-and I don't mean because he's half-Japanese and a little person...he just needed someone to take care of him-so weak and tired. You know, he walked for three days without eating or sleeping. It's a wonder he didn't die." While Olivia and Victoria talk, Pyralis slips into the hall and leans against the door-frame.

"Isn't that touching? We'll you're about to see the little boy that you, a grown woman, have a crush on in a moment. The four of you are ready." Pyralis says, a smug look on his face. He snaps his fingers and four Order Priestesses enter the room. They grab the girls and take them into the Temple Proper. Four altars await, encircling a perfectly rounded void in the middle of the floor. From the other door, Once-ler is being dragged into the room by two Order Priests while Aloysius is being carried like a stuffed animal by a single Priest. The room is crowded with Order Priests, Helpers, Brotherhood Assassins, and townspeople still loyal to The Order. The four of them are shoved against strange, upright metal altars and bound with ropes at their waists, knees, ankles, shoulders, and wrists. The crowd cheers and Pyralis stands before them, a wide grin on his face. "In a moment, Aurozhan will appear before us! He will make this town as it should be and remove these _heretics_, these _blasphemers_ from our midst. We shall witness the glory of Aurozhan as he tears them apart, drinking in their blood and devouring their flesh. Their dying screams will be the all the music such a resplendent ritual requires!" The room erupts into loud cheering.

Drunk on the crowd's adoration, Pyralis ambles up to the four of them. He sneers up at the four of them.

"Oh, Al, I think Miss Victoria has something to say to you."

"Fuck off, Pyralis." Victoria spits.

"Since she's too shy to admit it, she _likes you likes you_." he busts out laughing. "Isn't that sweet? Don't you want to be her little statutory rape victim, Al?" Aloysius's face burns. "I bet that gets all two inches up, doesn't it, you little fuck? Or can you even get a hard-on, yet?"

"Shut up!" he shouts. "You," he looks out into the crowd, "All of you, have taken everything from me! You killed my mom and dad just because they didn't want to live here, and you murdered my Uncle while he was trying to protect me. I am not required to listen to a damned thing you have to say, and _you_ are not entitled to talk to me _at all_, cock-bite, let alone to talk to me like _that_." He says, glaring down at Pyralis. Anger burns in Pyralis and he punches Al in the stomach.

"First time you've ever been tall enough to be _punched_ in the stomach, huh?" he laughs. Turning to the crowd with his hands out and a smile on his face, he says: "How about we get this started!?" He takes an elegant, gold dagger faceted with black and red stones and slashes each of their left arms, allowing their blood to flow into the pit. He takes his time; getting to Once-ler last. Smirking after he had cut the young man's arm, he drives the blade into Once-ler's broken arm, right at the fracture point: deep enough to stand on its own. Once-ler screams, choking on sobs. Suddenly, his screams are mirrored in the audience. Pyralis looks back to see his Faithfuls, Helpers, Priests, and Brotherhood Assassins fall...all by the hands of _one_ Brotherhood Assassin. Once-ler looks up through bleary eyes.

"...m-marietta...?" She rips through her victims with her bare hands; tearing heads from bodies, ripping arms out of their sockets, shredding bodies with her long, sharp nails. She drives her teeth into the necks of some, ripping their throats out, their blood turning her scarlet costume a darker, deeper shade of red.

"You're bad people! You hurt innocents! You embarrassed the short, scared boy and you hurt sweet, kind Cousin Once-ler."

"What the fuck is this?" Pyralis says, watching as what he thought was one of _his_ Brotherhood Assassins tear through his congregation. He looks back at them. "You had a goddamned _Brotherhood Assassin_ of your own this entire time? You little son of a bitch." he grabs the front of Once-ler's robe. "I should kill you right here!" he grabs Once-ler by the neck and squeezes, slowly. While he slowly strangles Once-ler, O'Hare has worked himself free of his restraints. Quickly and quietly, he unties Victoria and Olivia. The three of them pile on Pyralis, knocking him from Once-ler and into the crowd. O'Hare unties Once-ler, and he collapses into Olivia's arms.

"Hold him, Olivia." Victoria says. "Once-ler this is going to hurt _so bad_, but I have to get the knife out of your arm and put a tourniquet around your arm. You'll bleed to death if I don't, okay?" Once-ler is so dizzy from pain and blood-loss that he can't hold his head up, let alone look Victoria in the face.

"...sure..." he says, his voice slightly slurred and very weak. Victoria looks up.

"Al, I need you to help me." he rushes over to her, his cheeks still a little flushed. "I need you to hold Once-ler's arm in place so I can pull the knife out. He will scream. He may struggle against you-I don' t know how weak he is now, but you have to hold on tight, no matter what. Do you hear me, Al?"

"Yes, Miss Victoria." He says, smiling at her. He places his short hands at either side of Once-ler's break and holds tight. Victoria wraps her hands around the hilt of the blade and pulls as hard as she can, tearing the blade free in a spray of deep red. Once-ler cries out again. "Olivia, lay him down and help me cut the sleeve off his robe." she says. She uses the knife to cut the sleeve from Once-ler's robe. Underneath, they all see just how bad his arm has gotten. It has swollen over twice its size and the colour has gone from violet to nearly black. "_Oh, please, be severe bruising and not necrosis...Once-ler...you're an ass, but I don't want you to lose your arm..._" While the three of them tend to Once-ler's severely broken arm, a black mass appears behind them. It is solid black with long, undulating, coiling tendrils extending from all directions on its blob-like body. It looks as if it is made of ink, and the central mass of its body is dominated with a single orange eye-a diamond-shaped pupil at the center. At the end of each tendril is a gnashing maw lined with pointed teeth.

"Guys..." Olivia says, pointing. "GUYS!" she shouts. Victoria looks up, and Aloysius pulls himself a little closer to her, but this time, stands in front of her a bit.

"Aurozhan." Victoria says. The tendrils extend and fly towards them. Olivia grabs a nearly-incapacitated Once-ler and Victoria grabs O'Hare. They hide behind pillars. "It's motherfucking _Aurozhan_! The kooks managed to _summon_ the goddamned thing!"

"Yeah, I see him!" Olivia shouts back, frustrated.

"_That_ is what The Order worships?" Aloysius asks.

"Guys! I think I know how to stop it!" Olivia shouts.

"Then do it!" Victoria yells. Olivia runs out from the pillar behind which she and Once-ler had been hiding. With as much self-confidence as she can muster, she shouts:

"Aurozhan! Rydym ni, y bobl Soma Point gwrthod chi a'ch cynnig! Na 'n bellach yr hawl i ein gwaed, ein pobl ifanc, ac mae ein heneidiau chi! Rydym yn bwrw chi i ffwrdd! " pausing for a moment, she continues: "Yr wyf i, disgynnydd o Babson Wright gwrthod chi ac yn bwrw chi i ffwrdd!" Aurozhan screeches. She looks over at Victoria. "Vicki, I need you to stand up and say _Yr wyf i, disgynnydd o Anselm Krause wrthod y gallwch fwrw chi i ffwrdd_, you got it?" Victoria would normally question Olivia, but this time she stood, and with the same confidence as Olivia, shouted:

"Yr wyf i, disgynnydd o Anselm Krause wrthod y gallwch fwrw chi i ffwrdd!" The creatures screeches again, as if it is in pain.

"Great, now, Al, I need you to say _"Yr wyf i, disgynnydd o Bedell Beaumont gwrthod chi ac yn bwrw chi i ffwrdd!"_, alright? Just like that." O'Hare nods and, wanting to impress Victoria even more now, shouts:

"Yr wyf i, disgynnydd o Bedell Beaumont gwrthod chi ac yn bwrw chi i ffwrdd!" The creature begins to fall, screeching. Its tendrils flail wildly, tearing the Sacrificial Chamber to shreds and devouring some of its own followers. Its tendrils catch a man clad in white and pulls him into the air. Pyralis looks down, Aurozhan's sharp teeth digging deeper into his sides, staining his pristine robes. All he can think is "why?" as Aurozhan's jaws snap him in half. Olivia runs over to Once-ler and lifts him into her arms. Shouldering him back with the other three, she whispers softly, into his ear:

"I know this is going to be hard, Once-ler; you are in so much pain, but this is the last thing we'll need and you _have_ to do it or we'll all die. I need you to shout at that thing, with all the strength you can muster: "_Yr wyf i, disgynnydd o Durward Cresswell, gwrthod chi ac yn bwrw chi i ffwrdd!"_, alright? Please, Once-ler, then you can lie down. I promise." Staggering, Once-ler stands. With all the strength and clarity he can muster in his state, he shouts:

"Yr wyf i, disgynnydd o Durward Cresswell, gwrthod chi ac yn bwrw chi i ffwrdd!" Aurozhan begins to fall. Olivia takes the center again, her eyes fixed on the monstrosity.

"Gyda'r pedwar gwaed, yr ydych yn alltudio o Soma Point, a'r worl!" The creature lets out one final screech and it explodes, the entire room sprayed with its inky, black matter. In an instant, Order Priests, Priestesses, and Faithfuls fall to the ground. Helpers screech and die, their bodies disintegrating into clouds of pale grey effluvia almost instantly. Brotherhood Assassins fall, dead, at their feet. Marietta staggers up to the platform. Dark blood runs from her eyes, mouth, and ears. She collapses on top of Once-ler, her blood-tears dripping onto his face. He looks up at her.

"Good Cousin, Marietta thinks she is dying..." she says, coughing into her hand, blood visible between her fingers. She holds Once-ler close, careful of his arm. "Is it okay if Marietta holds you, Sweet Cousin Once-ler? Marietta will be careful of Cousin's hurt arm."

"It's perfectly fine..." Once-ler says, wrapping his right arm around the last of his family.

"Marietta feels so weak, Cousin Once-ler...does Cousin Once-ler feel weak, too?" she asks.

"Yes, Marietta..." he says. She starts to cry, burying her head in his chest, her blood staining the white robes.

"Marietta doesn't want to go, Cousin Once-ler! Marietta loves Cousin Once-ler and doesn't want to leave him all alone with no family. We are all we have-you said it to me that day, good cousin."

"I love you, too, Marietta..." he says, barely holding onto consciousness. She settles onto his chest. Once-ler can feel her breathing slow, along with her heart until they both fade away. "I...I'll never...I'll never forget you...Marietta..." Once-ler says, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. He faints.


	9. Epilogue

Soma Point

Epilogue

Once-ler lies in a make-shift infirmary, staring at the ceiling. The drugs they had given him have clouded his mind. An oxygen mask rests on his face, and a nutrient drip runs into his right arm, along with a blood-bag and a third bag he didn't recognize. He looks over to his left, and tears well up in his eyes.

"_God...my arm...it's gone..._" he begins to weep. The stump that was once his left arm is wrapped in plaster casting, a tube running inside to drain away fluids. He hears three sets of footsteps and immediately stops crying.

"Hey, Once-ler." Olivia says, brushing his hair back from his eyes. "I'm sorry...the damage to your arm was too severe...the tissue was dead. They had to take it. I am so sorry..." he nods and stares off. Wistfully, he says:

"You know, I used to play guitar." he lets out a long sigh. "That'll never happen again..." He looks over at Victoria. "What did they do with Marietta? I don't want her treated like the Assassins."

"They've buried her. When you are well enough, Once-ler, we'll take you to her grave."

"Thank you." He tries to sit up, and Olivia places her hand, gently, on his shoulder.

"You need to stay lying down, Once-ler. You've got a transfusion running, but you're still low on blood. They've also given you antibiotics to fight the infection you'd started to develop."

"Alright." he looks over at the three of them. "I don't know if all this bullshit the four of us have been through makes us friends or not, but it does to me-even you, Vicks." she pouts and he laughs a bit. "You know you love me." he sighs. "What I'm trying to say, is I have one last favor to ask of you guys. When I'm well, I want the three of you to go back to the mansion with me...I...I want to say goodbye to my family properly. We were in too much of rush last time. I'd go by myself, but I can't-the one-armed-wonder I am, now." Victoria nods.

"We understand, Once-ler. We'll go with you." Al speaks up.

"If it's not too much trouble, on the way, I'd like to stop at Clearwater. I'm sure my parents have been buried...I never got to say goodbye." Victoria puts her arm around him.

"Sure thing, Al." The three of them stand in there with him for a while, talking to him, trying to keep his mind off his amputation.

A week later, the doctors determine that Once-ler can go to Marietta's grave with Olivia. Placing him in a wheelchair, she pushes him to Soma Point's cemetery. Carefully, she pushes, trying to keep the wheels out of the mud and avoid as many bumps as possible. They reach a short, pale-grey obelisk, the name "Marietta Struthers, Daughter of Ubb and Grizelda Struthers. Your sacrifice shall not be forgotten, lost child." Above her name was the Crest of Durward Cresswell. Even with the fall of the Order, the Four Families were still held in high regard.

"Wheel me closer, Livs." Once-ler says, holding back tears. "I want to get close enough to touch the letters." She pushes him closer and he reaches out with his right hand, his fingers tracing the letters of her name. "Marietta...I'm sorry. I didn't know that killing that thing would kill you, too. I'm sorry that Uncle Ubb kept you locked up so long and that I..." he stops for a moment, his shoulders rocking as he cries softly, "that I let you out only to die..." He collects himself. "I'm sorry that you never got to experience so much. Marietta, I am sorry that we didn't get to spend much time together. I meant it when I said I love you and that I won't ever forget you..." Olivia pats him on the shoulder. "Marietta, my _good cousin_, goodbye." He looks up. "I'm ready to leave, Olivia." she wheels him back to the hospital.

Two months later, the four of them leave for Once-ler's old home. Olivia borrows a car, and the four of them take their time.

"How's...you know...doing, Once-ler?" Victoria asks.

"My arm? It doesn't hurt as badly anymore, and I've been taking really good care of it."

"That's nice. Will you be getting a prosthetic arm, Once-ler?" he shakes his head.

"Nah. I thought about it for a while, but I don't think I will. I mean, I can't play guitar with it. I though about getting one anyway-to look normal, but I think that I'll keep my arm like this for Marietta. She wasn't perfect, she didn't look _normal_, but she never let it get her down and never tried to change who she was, so I won't either." Victoria shrugs.

"Your choice."

"Well, I think it is very noble of him." Olivia says. Once-ler laughs.

"Remember when we were on our way to Soma Point, and Marietta just started getting really pissy-like unrealistically pissy? She stops dead in the road, takes off her shoes and slings 'em up a tree! Turns out, they were too uncomfortable on her feet."

"Yeah, I remember that." Al says, chuckling. "Then she started dancing around barefoot, shouting "Freedom! Tight-binding foot prisons! Cast them into the tree!". She was a trip. Glad I got to meet her." he says. He hangs his head and his tone changes. "I'm sorry I acted the way I did when I first met her, Once-ler."

"It's okay, Aloysius. You were scared of her. I understand."

"I'm also sorry I never got to apologize to her for it. She saved us all. If she didn't distract the crowd, I wouldn't have been able to get loose and untie the rest of you guys."

"I'm sure she forgave you, Al."

"Guys, we're getting ready to enter Clearwater. Al, there's still that Amber Alert out for you. You might want to hide under that blanket back there." Olivia says from the driver's seat. The teen nods and crawls under the dark blue blanket. Victoria leans over to Olivia and whispers in her ear:

"He was short enough that he didn't have to do that. If they're even still looking for him, they probably wouldn't have been able to see him. He can't even see out the windows."

"I know, I just want to be sure." Olivia says. "Plus, it's a little funny to me."

"Dumb-ass." After a bit more, they reach Clearwater's cemetery. The four of them get out of the car. After a few moments, they find his parents' graves. Aloysius stands alone, looking at both stones. The other three keep their distance.

"Mom...Dad...it's me, Al. I just wanted to tell you both that my friends back there and I took care of it. We stopped the Order. Soma Point is safe now." he sits. "I even managed to free Uncle Al from whatever spell or something The Order had over him...he...he died protecting me." He looks up at their names. "Yukiko Takanawa-O'Hare, mom." he sighs. "Murray O'Hare, dad." He sniffs a bit. "I...I miss you both so much...I admit, I wanted to kill them all-all the Brotherhood Assassins. I wanted them to suffer for what they did, but I just ended up being too scared of them to fight...and I ended up befriending one, sort of. She was the cousin of the tall, one-armed guy back there. His name's Once-ler. Weird, huh?" He starts to cry. "Why did you have to go? I'm all alone, now." he sits his glasses aside and weeps, openly, into his hands. He feels a hand on his shoulder and looks up to see Victoria kneeling beside him.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. O'Hare. I know you don't know me, but I'm friends with your son. My name is Victoria Shield. I'll make sure Al never has to be alone, again." he puts his arms around Victoria and cries into her red vest. She takes his glasses. "Are you ready to leave, Al?" he nods. She scoops him up and walks back to the car; this time, sitting in the back with him while Once-ler takes her place up front.

"Is he going to be okay?" Olivia asks, concerned.

"He'll be fine, just let him cry it out. He's probably been holding this in a long time." She pulls him into her lap and wraps the blanket around him.

After a few more hours, they reach Once-ler's secluded family mansion. Out front, the charred bones of Brotherhood Assassins still remain. Once-ler gets out of the car and runs to the back yard, the other three following. They find him, sitting in the grass in front of five graves.

"Victoria, Olivia, Al, can you guys do something for me?"

"What?" Victoria says.

"I need five stones. I can't carry them myself-one-arm, you know?" Victoria pouts.

"You're just going to milk that one-arm thing forever, aren't you? Geez, you haven't changed for shit!"

"Victoria!" Olivia shouts. "We'll get the stones. It's just five of them."

"No. I'll help, too." Once-ler stands. "I need to learn how to function with one arm." The four of them collect stones, Olivia and Victoria carrying two-one under each arm, while Al carries one and Once-ler carries another. While the other three help him set the stones up above his family's graves, Victoria collects the last stone. Olivia has brought out some paint and helps Once-ler paint his family members' names on their stones. Once they are finished, he looks over to the rest of them. "I'd like to go back inside the mansion by myself for a little bit, okay?" he says.

"Once-ler, if you need any of us, just yell." Olivia says. Once-ler steps inside. The blood-stench had begun to air out and was barely noticeable. Carefully, he walks from room to room. Finally, he reaches his mother's bedroom. As he steps near her bed, the floor creaks and he fells the board give way. Reaching down with his right hand, he pulls the board back. Underneath, completely untouched by the violence that tore that mansion apart, was a walnut music box with the Cresswell Seal in gold on the lid, and his mother's name "_Isabella_" written under in elegant script. The hinges, latch, and winding key were gold. Once-ler sits in the floor and winds the key. Opening the lid, out chimes the most haunting and melancholy tune he had ever heard. After a few moments, he found himself humming along with it. He looks through the small box.

Inside are photos-one of his mother when she was much younger standing next to a tall, black haired man, a smug smile on his face. A very, very small Brett and Chet stand at either side of them. Isabella appears to be pregnant. Another one is much older; his mother as a child. She wore a dark blue dress that reached her knees and high white socks. She wore brown Mary-janes on her feet. Beside her stood Ubb, dressed in a blue jacket, white shirt, blue shorts and high white socks. He wore brown loafers. The two of them looked so sad. Behind them stood two people he could only guess were his grandparents. A light-haired man with sharp, hateful eyes dressed in brown trousers, a white button-down, and a brown vest. Next to him stood a woman with long, black hair wearing a black shirt and long, red skirt. A red beret rested on her head. Her eyes were sad and desperate. He turns the photo over. _The Struthers. Atticus 37, Rosalie, 32, Ubb 12, Isabella, 6._ He digs for a while, looking at old photographs, reading old letters, until he reaches a much more recent looking letter...addressed to him. Quickly opening it, he begins to read:

"_Once-ler. I never got a chance to tell you that I'm sorry for the way I've treated you. Now, with the Helpers coming back, I know that it is too late to tell you to your face. I have been a terrible mother, especially to you. There was so much I wanted to tell you the night you left; about how your uncle and I escaped, how we managed to stay hidden all these years, who your father was and that I love you. I love you so much, and I never told you. _

_ As you well know by now, your uncle Ubb and I were born in Soma Point. Your grandfather, Atticus, was what was known as a "devotee" of the Order. He worshiped them as devoutly as any High Priest ever could. He was also a cruel man, especially to your uncle. Your uncle never wanted the Mark, and dad thought it was a blessing. He would beat Ubb with a belt, screaming at him to "be proud of his blessing", to be grateful of "the grace Aurozhan has showered on our family!", and to "embrace the glorious fate that lie ahead!". Our mother...well, she was the opposite. She always wanted to escape Soma Point and take Ubb and I with her. When the time came, she orchestrated our escape, but she had to stay behind. Ubb was just 20, I was just 14. I know in my heart they put her to death for it; branded a heretic and blasphemer. We were on our own, in a world so different from Soma Point. We stayed in this little place, Petaluma, for a while, then wandered to around. I met your father in a place called Hale, a few miles from here. We never married, I am ashamed to say, but he is your father, as well as Brett and Chet's. His name was Clayton Taylor. He left not long before you were born-and before Marietta was born, thank God. _

_ Marietta...by now, you know her well, I would think. I remember the night she was born. I was five months pregnant with you and Clayton was long gone. Ubb came into the house and ordered Brett and Chet upstairs. He told them to go into their room and not come out until he said it was okay. He was covered in blood. He had me go into the basement with him. Grizelda lay in that bed-the one you found in the basement-Marietta's bed. I'll never forget when I first saw her. She terrified me, Once-ler. Three eyes, no nose, and her mouth was already full of those teeth. Ubb wanted her dead, he wanted to kill her that night. Don't begrudge him this, he was afraid that the Order would find us if we let her live. Perhaps it is because I was pregnant with you, but your aunt and I convinced him to let her live, as long as she remained in the basement and you and your brothers were never to know of her. We did it not out of shame, Once-ler, but for the protection of the three of you. Ubb and I had seen Brotherhood Assassins our entire lives. We knew what they could do, and we didn't want to risk her killing any of us, especially the three of you. _

_ Once-ler, my youngest son. Please know that I am sorry for the way I treated you. I am sorry that I never gave you the attention you wanted and deserved. I am sorry I told you that you would never amount to anything-I just wanted you to have better for yourself and try harder. I always knew you were destined to be great, Once-ler._

_I love you and I am so sorry for everything_

_Mom_

_Isabella"_

Once-ler sits in the floor a little longer, then carefully places all the photographs and letters back inside the music-box. He takes out a backpack and places all that he cares to take with him inside. Slinging it over his shoulder, he steps back outside.

"You okay, Once-ler?" Olivia asks. He stops.

"I want to burn this place to the ground." he says.

"What?" He turns back to the girl in green.

"There's nothing left here for me anymore: just blood and death. I can't stay here."

"That's no reason to burn it to the ground!" Olivia cries out. Victoria steps forward.

"I agree with him. Burn this place to the ground." The four of them go through the mansion, throwing bottles of scotch, bourbon, wine, brandy, and vodka against walls. They douse the walls in kerosene and petrol.

"Hold on a second!" Al says. He goes over to the kitchen counter and snatches down a towel. Shoving it into vodka bottle, he turns to the others. "Molotov cocktails. My dad and I used to make them sometimes."

"What the hell kind of things did you and your dad do together, Al?" He looks over at Once-ler.

"You guys have any propane tanks? Anything that'll explode?"

"My uncle kept a propane tank for a torch he'd use sometimes." Al pouts.

"That'll do. How about oily rags? Got any of those?"

"Yeah." A wild smile crosses Aloysius's lips.

"Perfect." After a while of Al's giddy instructions, the house is perfectly set up and they have made 24 Molotov Cocktails. "Let's do this!"

The four of them step outside and line around the house, keeping their distance and standing at each corner of the house.

"You guys ready!?" Al shouts.

"Sure thing!" Victoria shouts back, followed by Olivia and Once-ler. Giggling a little, Al lights the rag aflame and, despite his short stature, throws the improvised fire-bomb at a high arch with it crashing into a second-story window. Within moments, the entire mansion is in flames and all four of them stand out front. The other three don't seem to notice the wide grin on Al's face, the light of the flames reflecting on his glasses and braces.

"Anyone else feel like partying? I sure as hell do!" Al laughs.

"What's gotten into him?" Olivia asks, "He sneak drinks off Once-ler's family's booze while we weren't looking?" In the background, at the car, they can hear him shout:

"Aw, bad ass! The Stones! I'm playin' 'em right now!" The sounds of The Rolling Stones fills the air as loud as the small car's speakers will permit.

"It's probably some form of catharsis for him-the sobbing earlier was just part of it...that, or our little Al is a fire-bug." Victoria says, continuing her thought.

"It's always the ones you least suspect..." Olivia says. Al half-skips back to the other three.

"Pity that we burned all the booze in there, that'd set this off right-nice send off, nice celebration for the end of our adventure!"

"Al, you're just fifteen." Olivia says. He pulls back his sleeve, displaying a watch.

"Nu-uh. It's after midnight. I'm 16, now!"

"Today's your birthday, Al? Well, happy birthday, then." Once-ler says.

"Yeah, happy birthday." Olivia says, eying the little thunder-ball carefully. He grins at Victoria.

"You don't have to tell me happy birthday, Victoria. I wanna talk to you." Victoria follows behind him, being tugged by her wrist in his small hands. "I want to tell you something, Victoria." he says. She sighs.

"_He's gonna kiss me. I knew that the second he said he wanted to _talk_ to me._" She grabs him and the two of them fall to the ground, with her on top of him. She kisses him, deep. She can taste it in his mouth-a mixture of drinks-bourbon, brandy, vermouth, vodka, red wine, scotch, peppermint schnapps. "_How many drinks did he have? Vermouth? Really? There was no drink mix in there that I could see; he drank straight-up vermouth? No wonder he's acting like this. He's drunker than a monkey's ass._" She can feel _him_ against her and see the lust in his dark eyes.

"No." she says, flatly.

"Aw, C'mon! What difference is two years? I won't tell if you won't tell!"

"Al." She stands back up, staring down at him. He sits up. "You're drunk as hell right now. I don't know how you managed to sneak so many drinks with all of us right there, but I am not _taking your virginity_ while you're drunk...and underage."

"Damn. Well, I'll be seeing you in exactly two years and I swear, not a drink one." Victoria reaches down and picks him up.

"Come on, lushy. Let's go back with everyone else." O'Hare starts singing along, drunkenly, with "_Let's Spend the Night Together_".

When the two of them return, they find Once-ler trying to teach Olivia how to pay guitar.

"And see, that's A-minor." He grabs at her hands with his remaining hand. "Hold your hands like this, and you get a D-chord." He looks up at Victoria carrying O'Hare, now _shouting_ the chorus from "_Gimmie Shelter_".

"Well, well, what were you too doing? You were gone a while."

"Stuff it, Olivia. Aloysius is drunker than fuck right now, if you couldn't tell." She looks into his eyes and he smiles at her.

"Gonna give me another kiss?" he asks, "Well, the other two are right there..."

"How many drinks did you have, Al?"

"Pssssssh." he lies down.

"Aloysius. How much did you have to drink? You're small, your tolerance is lower than the rest of us."

"I drank about half a bottle of wine, some scotch and bourbon, a sip of vermouth and vodka, but it was nasty, and three bottles of peppermint schnapps. I like schnapps. Pepperminty..."

"Has he puked yet?" Once-ler asks.

"No."

"Damn, little fuck can hold his liquor." The boy sits up, a smirk on his face,

"Hey, Victoria, how about we have Once-ler and Olivia leave, I strip down and pour schnapps all over me and you lick it off." Victoria rubs the bridge of her nose, right between her eyes.

"Al, you need to drink some water."

"You drink some water! I want me a little more to drink."

"Well, too bad. It's all gone-burned up in there," she points back at the embers of Once-ler's mansion. "Olivia, get him a bottle of water out of the car. He's drunk enough."

"Yessim. Once-ler, you come with me."

"Why? This is fun as hell to watch. Little bastard's drunk off his ass and horny as hell."

"Because I asked you nicely, and I think that Victoria may join us in a moment."

"Fine." Once-ler gets up and walks with Olivia back to the car. When they are gone, Aloysius looks up at Victoria.

"Vicki, baby, I'm so hard right now, you know that?" he says, slurred. She looks down, bemused.

"Yes, Al. I can see it in the front of your pants."

"Quick, before they get back, just touch it. C'mon. I want that so bad. Just touch me." Victoria turns to the car.

"Bring back two bottles of water, Livs!"

"Kay!"

"Why we need two?" Al asks.

"I'm pouring the other bottle of _cold water_ on your crotch. Cool your little ass down."

"Spoil sport." he snuggles against her boot. "I still love you, anyway." She kneels down.

"Look at me, Al. Listen to me. You know I care about you. You know I am attracted to you. It is all I can do to ignore you right now, but I can't even so much as let my hands slip between your legs until your 18th birthday. Though you are 16 now, that doesn't change the fact that I am _twenty-four._ I will be _twenty five_ in one month. Think about that, Aloysius. I am _nine years older than you_. I was old enough to remember your mom and dad running away from Soma Point with you after you were born. Keep listening, Aloysius, I'm not done. Even _if_ you were eighteen or older, I still wouldn't _do that_ with you while you were drunk. It would be taking advantage of you, and it wouldn't be right."

"You'll wait right?" he asks, slightly sobered by her words.

"Yes, Aloysius. I'll wait for you."

"Then when I turn 18...?"

"The very second." His cheeks turn scarlet and Olivia and Once-ler return, Once-ler drinking a brightly-coloured sports drink and noshing on a candy bar. After Aloysius has had plenty enough water to sober down a bit, he asks:

"Victoria, you said you were old enough to remember when my parents left Soma Point with me. What happened after that?" She shakes her head, sitting her bag of white-cheddar popcorn aside.

"All hell broke loose, Al. Your mother, Yukiko, was an Outsider. We didn't get Outsiders in Soma Point often, and they _never_ married one of us, let alone the only non-Marked heir to one of the Four Families." she snorts, "The Order was pissed about that, especially Pyralis. I mean, you totally got that he was prejudiced against Asians, right?"

"Yeah, I think I may have picked up on that a little." he says, scoffing.

"It wasn't even that she was Asian, it was that she was an Outsider; being Asian was just the icing on the cake. Then, you were born. A new heir to the Beaumont line...who was mixed-race. For two hundred years, all Heirs to the Four Families have been white. Most of us in Soma Point gave two shits, but the _devotees_ were pissed. A lot of them wanted you murdered and make your father have another child with a white woman."

"What did my parents do about all this?"

"What else could they do, Al? Your mother was upset enough as it was-like with me and Olivia, the second you were born, you were taken from your mother and father, cleaned a little, and had the Seal of your ancestor tattooed onto your back. It probably tore your mother apart to see them snatch you up, take you into a room, shut and lock the door, and hear you scream and cry while a tattoo needle buzzed inside; not knowing at all what was happening to you. Then, the two of them hear talk around town that it would be better for The Order and Soma Point if you were dead and your father had a white child instead. They took you and fled. You were only two weeks old."

"After that? In Soma Point, I mean."

"The Brotherhood Assassins came out in droves, leading _packs_ of Helpers. They scoured the town for your family. The Order went batshit "FIND THEM! FIND THEM! NO ONE LEAVES SOMA POINT ALIVE!". Several Helpers were sent to track your family down. I can't believe it took fifteen years to find you, I mean you were in _Clearwater_, for fuck's sake!" She lies back. "So, what was Clearwater like, Al?"

"It was nice. Better than Soma Point, I guess." He snuggles next to her and she wraps her arms around him. He looks over; Once-ler is asleep, with Olivia sleeping on his right shoulder. "I guess we should get some sleep, too." The four of them fall asleep as the last of the cinders burn away.

The next morning, the four of them go back to Soma Point. Once-ler stands, staring at the town in the midday sun. It all looks so different to him. The citizens had nearly cleaned the town of the rubble, blood, and burns. Almost no remnants of the hellish nightmare that the town had once been remained.

"God, under the right light, this place almost looks nice." he remarks, shaking his head. He looks Victoria in the eyes. "So, what happens now?"

"We continue to rebuild. We remove all traces of The Order and what they did to this place. In time, Soma Point will be a normal place again." Olivia speaks up.

"But we cannot forget what happened here, either. _Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it_. I will keep all the records of what happened here in the dark days secure. As the much-more-greats-than-I-care-to-say granddaughter of Babson Wright, it is the least I can do-see that this _never_ happens again." Victoria shrugs.

"I guess I'll run for mayor. It was my dad's job, and his dad's before him. Mayor is sort of a hereditary thing here." She looks down at Aloysius. "What about you, Al?"

"Where else is there for me? With my mom and dad..._gone_...there is nothing for me in Clearwater. Plus, they'd just put me in foster care and I'd never get to see you guys again. I also really don't want to live in Japan with my grandparents-I've only met them once, when I was _seven_." he nods. "I'm gonna stay in Soma Point with you, Victoria. I'm sure there's something I could do to help." Olivia smiles and messes up some of Aloysius's hair.

"Sure there is! You're from a normal place! You can help us figure out how a normal town's supposed to work!" He laughs.

"I'll do my best." He looks up at the tall, fedora-wearing man next to him. "And you, Once-ler? Are you gonna stay in Soma Point with the rest of us?" Once-ler busts out laughing.

"Oh, _hell _no! I want as little to do with this place as possible!"

"Then what? What are your plans, Once-ler? Where is there for you to go?" Aloysius asks. Once-ler shrugs.

"I was thinking of looking around this town called "Hale"; there's someone I'm gonna punch in the face with my one good arm. Then, hell, I don't know. The world is my oyster. I'll travel around until I find a place I like, I guess." Victoria puts her hand on Once-ler's shoulder.

"I know you said _you want as little to do with this place as possible_, but you'll always have a place to stay here, if you need it."

"You mean it, Vicks?" she cringed a bit. He knew how much she hated being called that. "And here I always thought you didn't like me." He laughs. He looks over at the car. "You mind if I take this, Olivia?"

"Sure. It's yours." He fidgets for a moment.

"I guess this is goodbye, guys."

"But can't we do something else together? A going away party?" Olivia asks.

"Nah, I think last night was enough of a party. I really need to get going." Olivia puts her arms around him.

"You think you're just going to leave, just like that? We're at least gonna hug you. Vicki, Al, you get in here, too." The three of them hug Once-ler and after a moment, let him go. Slipping into the driver's seat, he starts the car.

"Well, it's an automatic, at least. I think I can manage it." He smiles at the three of them. "Goodbye, friends."

"See ya, Once-ler. Take care out there." Victoria says, crossing her arms.

"Bye, Once-ler." Aloysius says. Olivia is crying a little.

"Goodbye...Once-ler. Come back any time." She wipes her eyes with her sleeve.

It had been about two weeks since he left Soma Point, and Once-ler reaches Hale. He cruses around before pulling over to ask a pedestrian if they knew where to find a Clayton Taylor. He is directed to a smarmy, rat-eaten trailer; the name "124 Burgess Pike TAYLOR" written on a barn-shaped mail-box sloppily. Stepping out of the car, Once-ler walks through the muddy front yard to the battered, aluminum front door of the trailer. Even from the "yard", he could smell dog-stench mixed with cheap, skunked beer.

"_Christ Almighty, what did mom see in this redneck?_" He knocks on the door and a chorus of barking erupts from inside, along with a man shouting at the dogs to "shut the fuck up". A moment later, a tall man with thinning black hair and a beer-gut answers the door. "_Sheesh, he really let himself go, didn't he?_"

"Yeah, the fuck are you, bean-pole?"

"You remember a woman named Isabella Struthers? Blond hair, blue eyes, glasses. Sort of passive-aggressive?"

"Aw, shit, you're one of my kids, ain't ya?"

"Yeah. I'm the kid she was pregnant with when you ran off. Name's Once-ler."

"The fuck kind of name is that? _Once-ler_? What the hell?" He takes a drink from his beer. "So, what do you want, _Once-ler_?" Once-ler grins, his right hand tightening into a fist.

"This." he says as he punches Clayton in the face as hard as he can, knocking the drunkard to the ground. Turning on his heels, Once-ler walks back to his car, extremely pleased with himself; fully satisfied with his actions. He slips into his car and starts it up, Clayton running towards him, shouting a myriad of obscenities. He drives off, laughing. As the last hint of Clayton disappears from his rear-view mirror and Hale is long gone, Once-ler sighs to himself. "Where to go, now?"


End file.
